Who wants to be famous?
by izakinha
Summary: Sanji and Zoro have dreams and talent,none of which involve the show business.Things change when a set of weird events push them into this crazy and interesting world.What happens when they can't help but to feel attracted to it and to each other?ZoSanAU
1. Stage 1 Meet the cast Part 1

**Hi there,**

**You guys probably don't know me yet because, well, this is my second fic EVER. That's cause I've always liked to draw more then write and I'm better at it too u.u'**

**I'm also Brazilian which means that my mother lenguage is portuguese not english. I lived in the USA for a year though, so I can communicate without many problems and even write a little XD. **

**Keep that in mind while you read this and go easy on the reviews since I'm pretty much a beginner on this area ^^**

**For those who like Doujinshis of pairing such as Zosan, Narusasu and Smoace, it might be a good idea to check my deviantart (zazkinha). I can assure you that I draw WAY better than I write =D**

**This story came to my mind a few days ago and I really like where it is going in my head. I just LOVE stories about showbusiness and stuff, and I noticed that there aren't many of those about One Piece out there. I plan on making it less then 10 chapters long, but you never know... **

**_Unfortunatly I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS USED ON THIS STORY. They are property of EIICHIRO ODA and I'm just a fan with too much imagination and free time._**

**Enjoy ;D**

**Who wants to be famous?**

Stage 1: Meet the cast – part 1

He was sweating. He was sweating so much that he could feel the droplets of salty water slide down his neck and chest in a slow but constant motion. It wasn't just the room that was hot, the whole fucking city felt like being inside of a giant oven. Which was one reason why he never wanted to live in LA; the summer there was way to hot for his delicate body. That and the fact that now he was stuck in a small room with four fat guys watching a small television and waiting for his lunch break to end so he could go back to work as a WAITER, while for all he knew, he could be working at a fancy kitchen in one of his dad's restaurants located on cooler parts of the country.

He would never forgive that old geezer for kicking him out like that. Who cares about "being independent" and "experiencing new things" when you already have pretty much everything you need and want? Sure he wished to improve his cooking and to open his own place some day, but did he really have to start from scratch, like everybody else? Couldn't he just skip a few steps (like working as a WAITER and living at a FILTHY apartment) and go straight to the part where he finds a nice little place to open his own store? It's not like his dad didn't have the money to help him, after all, he owned a very successful chain of restaurants spread across the country ( the "Baratie"). Still, to his misfortune, the old chef had no intention of giving him a hand with the "becoming a chef" business. So there he was, working 8 hours a day for a minimal pay at a popular restaurant on LA, deprived of a comfortable home to come back to after work, and having to put up with all the shit that his fellow workers liked to do while on lunch break (such as watching stupid variety shows, like the one they were watching at that moment on TV).

As an educated and cultured person that he was, Sanji could not find any interest on what those types of tv programs had to show. It was just something that brainless people liked to watch when they had nothing better to do, and to find out some useless info about their favorite stars which they used to discuss with their neighbors.

It wasn't like he disliked movie stars and didn't watch movies or television (he wasn't that radical), but he preferred to spend his precious time practicing at the gym or learning a new recipe instead of gossiping about what new actor/actress just got pregnant or turned gay.

Though that was mostly what he thought, the particular show being broadcast on tv at that time caught his interest.

It featured a newcomer that for the past few months had gotten a lot of attention from the media as a result of some well played parts on movies and TV series. The guy in question was younger than Sanji by what seemed like 2 years and had engaged on the show business no longer than 6 months before. He was a man with a boyish face and playful personality that quickly entered the hearts of many men and women of all ages, including Sanji's.

It wasn't like Sanji had the hots for the guy (no! Never!) but he still liked his acting and sympathy during interviews and talk shows. He was a raven with approximately 5'6",short hair, a thin but defined body and a small scar under his left eye.

Of all the qualities that the boy seemed to have, the thing that struck Sanji the most was his smile. A pure and innocent smile that became his trademark and could be seen everywhere in town on advertisement posters for toothpaste, clothes, movies and even food. Mostly food. Apparently, the young star really liked to eat, having already been spotted eating like a pig on many restaurants and fast-food places across the country. Sanji wished one day he could cook for that guy and be able to see his food just disappear from its plates like the rumors said it happened when the boy ate.

His thoughts were interrupted then by a tired waiter that stepped into the room to announce the end of their lunch break. Sanji got up, straightening his clothes in the process, and went out of the stinky room heading for the restaurant's back door. It was time to work and he needed to look presentable, since, aside from the fact that he was in a fancy place, there was always chance that he might meet some special people while working.

Rogue town was an old restaurant known for the frequency with which famous people dropped by to have launch and dinner. The place was located close to many shooting studios and had an efficient security system built to protect the stars from paparazzi and crazy fans, making it perfect for actors, actresses,singers and models to stop by and have a calm and enjoyable time with their friends without having to worry about keeping their fake smiles and professional composure.

That was partly why Sanji applied to work there, so that he would have a chance to meet gorgeous women and if he got lucky maybe one of them would fall in love with him and they would live happily ever after.

With that in mind, he stepped into the kitchen to grabbed his black apron and notepad, going straight to the dinning area afterwards.

The next 2 hours went on just like any normal work day: people walking in and out of the restaurant; meals being ordered and an occasional generous tip. Sanji was already accepting the fact that Hollywood was probably on a busy day, because no star or singer had showed up yet and his shift was almost over.

It was close 6 pm and he was tired beyond belief; his feet complained about every step he took and his back was sore from walking and standing for long periods of time. He needed a cigarette really bad and he just craved for a shower.

He had just looked at the clock for the 10th time in less then 5 minutes when the sound of excited whispering from the customers caught his attention. He turned to look at the direction that most glares were being drawn to, and his heart leaped a beat at what he saw.

Two of the most beautiful specimens of the female gender had just walked through the front door, and to his delight, they weren't just ordinary women, but exactly what he had been waiting for since he started working at Logue town the week before.

He recognized both women from fashion magazines and he was sure he had seen one of them on a tv show recently. For a moment he spaced out drooling over the women's long legs and big breasts.

The one that walked in first, heading straight to a comfortable and private booth at the back of the room, showed enough familiarity to the place to make it look as if she was on her own house. She had short red hair, light brown eyes and a fair skin. She had a tattoo on her left shoulder that could be seen clearly due to the fact that she was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt, complemented by tight jeans that left nothing to the imagination.

The other woman, that stood a few feet behind, followed the redhead and seated on the same booth while wearing a calm and collected expression that showed just about the same amount of familiarity to the place that her friend seemed to have.

She was taller then the first one by half a head, and had shoulder length black hair that matched perfectly her sharp and gorgeous features. She was prettier than her friend by a bit, and her cool and mature blue eyes fitted her image nicely. She wore a low cut black button down shirt that exposed quite a bit of skin, with a really short black skirt that matched her knee-length black leather boots. A look that, in Sanji's opinion, not many people could pull off without looking like a slut, but that the raven seemed to have no problem wearing.

She seemed older then himself and her friend (which Sanji assumed to be about his own age) and was now turning her gaze to a man that Sanji couldn't believed he hadn't noticed until then.

Ignoring other males was something that the blond did pretty often in that kind of situation. Just who, in their right mind, would pay attention to _man_ while in front of two goddesses like the ones sitting at that moment on the restaurant's booth?

This one though, was hard to miss. The man had electric blue hair styled in a eye catching way and wore a colorful Hawaiian style T-shirt with tight jeans that showed, much to Sanji's dismay, the man's incredible physique.

The guy took a sit next to the raven and they both relaxed visibly due to the new body proximity. The trio seemed to give off a strong "stay away" vibe to anyone who could be contemplating approaching them.

Sanji had just finished thinking how nice it would be to be able to go there and introduce himself when he realized they were actually seated at one of HIS designated tables for the night. His heart skipped a beat as he made his way over there. He grabbed his notepad and put on his best host smile before he turned to the guests seated in front of him.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman. Would you like to place your order?"

The redhead turned to answer the question but stopped when she saw the man in front of her. She had never seen him there before, which was strange since she came to Logue town at least twice a week. It was true though, that for the past six days she hadn't had the time to stop by her favorite restaurant because of her busy work schedule and many road trips. Still, it wasn't very often that the place hired new employees. For the sake of famous costumers like herself, they tried to keep a trustworthy and permanent staff.

She wasn't about to complain on their pick though, this guy was certainly a blessing to the eyes. He was complete, with long lean legs and golden blond hair that hid the left side of his face leaving an only sky-blue eye to show. He could easly be a model if he wanted to, she was sure of that.

Recovering quickly from her initial chock, she answered the blond.

"Well, I haven't really decided on what to eat yet." She turned to her companions "Do you guys want to order already?"

"I'll have the usual, I think." Said the blue-haired man without looking away from the menu. When he finally did look up, he met the waiter's anxious face and frowned "I don't remember ever seeing here before..."

"Yeah, I think he's new" Commented the redhead, once again contemplating the blond's sexy long legs "He probably doesn't know what "the usual" is, by the way."

"Oh yeah, sorry dude. You know that meat with sticky green sauce and red peppers on top?" Sanji nodded "That's what I want. Oh yeah, and bring me a bottle of coke too, will you?"

"Make sure to remember that order, cause that's all this meat-head ever eats and drinks." added the ginger in a mocking tone. The man huffed at the remark.

Sanji turned to look at the raven. She had been quietly examining him the whole time he spent talking to the other two and it was starting to creep him out. She might have noticed the blond's uneasiness, because she smiled in a way that made him relax a little. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft and powerful:

"I'll have _Civet de lièvre _and a glass of water please." The waiter finished writing down the requests and turned, once again, to the redhead that was still shamelessly staring a his legs. If she hadn't been so undeniably hot, he would have found the action very disconcerting and maybe even a little abusive on her part. He wondered if she would look at his ass the same way she was doing to his legs when he had to turn back and go drop the orders at the counter.

"Have you decided on what to order yet, madam?"

"Na, gimme a minute. You can go place their orders and come back here in a few minutes."

Sanji agreed and gave his back to the trio. He dropped their orders at the kitchen and walked around the tables serving drinks and entries to the customers. He was about to make his way back to the booth when his watch beeped telling him that his shift was over. He thought for a minute and decided to talk to the manager about working overtime that night. He was tired and his body ached, but he couldn't leave now that he had finally met the type of women he had always dreamed about meeting. Besides, so extra cash wouldn't hurt.

With that in mind, he made his way to the manager's office.

***

At the same time on the outside of the restaurant, stood a man that did not in, any way, fit the place. He was dressed in loose worn-out jeans with some visible stains across the legs, and a plain white t-shirt that had seen much better times. His brown combat boots had paint on them, and he wore a black bandanna tied to his head shadowing his eyes. His body was glittering in sweat and he carried a small bag over his shoulder. Zoro felt like a contaminated animal standing among that crowd of rich and snob people while being observed and feared by them.

The only thing he wanted was to _eat_, dammit!

He knew it had been a joke when they told him he could come eat for free at this restaurant... He should just turn around and look for a practical hot dog stand, where he could eat as much as he wanted without getting dirty glances from people he didn't even know. But then, that would probably cost him money, and he couldn't afford to waste even one penny if he wanted to survive until the end of the month.

Besides, he could at least try, right? What was honor compared to a full stomach?

The worse thing that could happen was getting kicked out of the place.

With that decided, Zoro headed for the main door ignoring the disgusted looks he received from the staff and the maitre as he stepped into the room. He had as much right to be there as everybody else, and as long as he had money to pay for the food they couldn't kick him out. Of course he DIDN'T have money to pay for any of that expensive looking food.

They didn't need to know that, though. Yet.

He found his way to the desk where the clerk worked in a fast pace to close the bills for the customers, and waited there for a moment until he was noticed by the busy woman. She looked at him and took in his appearance before examining his face. Something snapped in her brain and she understood the situation, giving Zoro a half smile.

"You must be Mr. Roronoa, am I right?" He nodded in surprise. He hadn't expected them to listen to his story at all, much less to actually recognize him. He just waited patiently while the woman seemed to look for something on her desk. She found what she had been looking for and lifted her eyes to meet Zoro's once again.

"The Owner told me that you might be coming here often in the next few days. He said you were to be served whatever you want to eat from our menu and we shouldn't charge you for it. Here it is what you need to show the waiters when they try to give you a bill." she handed him a slip o paper"You should take good care of that paper so that there are no misunderstandings about your situation, OK? Oh, and you don't have to worry about it today because it's your first time, but for the next time you visit, could you follow the restaurant's dress code? You don't have to wear anything really fancy, just something less...dirty." She smiled at him once again in a "good bye" sort of way and went back to the papers on her desk.

He took that as his cue to leave her desk and go look for a table that would give him some privacy. Those stares were really starting to piss him off and he was to tired to fight them. He sat in a secluded corner of the dinning room where a big green plant hid him from the rest of customers.

He knew he looked bad and even a little dirty, but he couldn't help being like that after spending his whole day under the hot sun working in a construction area. He had had to cut wood, saw it, and even help building walls for what people told him was going to be a house.

He didn't work with that because he liked it either, but because he needed the money to accomplish his dreams.

For the 20th time that day, he caught himself thinking about the job offer that his best friend had given him the week before. He wondered if it would be easier to reach his goals if he just accepted the offer without thinking to much into it.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head and grabbed the menu. The job at the construction site wasn't very pleasant, but helped him keep his body in shape and provided him with free meals (since the owner of Logue town was the same person who owned the house where he had been working at), so it was all good. He looked through the menu for a few minutes trying to find something that he actually knew what it was. After a while he gave up and decided to ask the waiter's help.

He saw a blond waiter approach a table close to his where a couple of middle aged women sat, and signaled for him to come over to his table. The man probably didn't see him, because he turned the opposite way and went to attend a very peculiar trio seating in one of the booths close to the wall.

As he looked at the people that formed the trio, he got the impression he had seen them somewhere before, mainly the women. Perhaps he had met them while shopping at the grocery store in his neighborhood. Or maybe they had been classmates during middle school (even though the raven and the blue-haired guy looked a bit too old for that).

He turned his attention once again to the blond and for the next 15 minutes he tried to get the man to come to his table. After the first 10 minutes of wasted effort, he was sure the waiter had seen him and was choosing to simply ignore his presence, which made his already foul mood drop a few more degrees.

***

On the other side of the room, the same thing was happening to the previously mentioned blond waiter, who was having a hard time dealing with what seemed like a massive delay of orders from the kitchen. Other then the famous trio's table, he was also responsible for 5 others that were occupied as well, and for an unknown reason their food was taking longer then normal to be delivered. Sanji had placed the orders almost half an hour before and the customers where starting to complain about their lack of food.

In all honesty, he had no idea of what he should do in that kind of situation. His job at the restaurant was only to serve the food, not make it. So he walked around listening to what people had to say and just waited for something, or someone, to get him out of that mess.

The nasty-looking man on the corner, who kept trying to get his attention, wasn't helping either. Aside from the trashy clothes and lack of manners, Sanji was getting really annoyed by the man's stupidity. The guy should have noticed already that his table wasn't Sanji's responsibility, which meant that if he wanted to order something he would have to look for the table's designated waiter. Which, again, was NOT Sanji.

How could anybody be that moronic?

He was about to make his way to the idiot and explain that, when the excited whispering produced by the customers started once again, a little louder this time. He looked at the door expecting to see another pretty lady walking in but instead he saw something else. One look at the man standing at the door and he immediately recognized him as the person he had seen on TV earlier that day.

A playful smile made its way to the blond's face, and he was glad he had decided to work over-time that night. He watched as the man/boy excitedly searched with his eyes for someone. He finally found who he had looking for and started to move in a way that was more like hopping than walking. Sanji saw as the boy's face (now that he could see him from a short distance, he looked too young to be called a man) lit up as he made his way to the almost hidden table where the idiot man, who had been bugging the shit out of blond just a few minutes before, sat.

He saw recognition flash through the man's expression while a small smile appeared on his lips. The boy jumped on the man and hugged him for a second before taking a sit on the opposite side of the table. Sanji wasn't the only one that had been watching the interaction going on on that side of the restaurant; half the people there, including the special trio, had their gazes drawn to the two guys.

The blond could hear giggles and murmuring from many parts of the room and his mind was racing with the question that, he knew, everybody there was asking inside their heads:

_'Just how the fuck did that nasty-looking guy know a person such as **Luffy D. Monkey** - the year's most popular newcomer?'_

He came back to the real world when he heard his name being called by the Maitre that stood in front of the clerk's desk. He walked to the man wondering if he was about to be yelled at about something he didn't do. The maitre looked distressed while he talked, in a hushed voice, to the clerk that wore a similar expression to his. Sanji could feel the need for a cigarette growing inside of him and making his hands shake. The man finished talking to the woman and turned to face him with a strange glint in his eyes. He talked in the same hushed tone he had used with the woman:

" Mr. Blackleg, it came to my knowledge that you denominate yourself a cook. Is that correct?"

Sanji gulped and nodded reluctantly. He couldn't understand what was that all about, but he figured it was better to just go along with it for little longer. The glint in the man's eye seemed to grow for a moment before he started speaking again.

"And what exactly did you do to earn that title? What prove do you have to support your statement?"

Sanji tried hard to understand the reason behind those questions. It didn't sound like what people usually said when they were about to fire an employee. He decided to answer the question honestly.

"I have been studying gastronomy for almost 8 years now, and I have taken many cooking classes. Also, I've trained under the chef of the Baratie, Jeff Redleg. I worked as a sub-chef there before I came here."

The maitre's eyes widened in surprise before they were filled with suspicion. He spoke in a mocking tone:

"You shouldn't lie to me about this, boy. I was about to give you an opportunity and you just blew it."

Sanji became a little annoyed when he heard that, but there wasn't much he could say on his defense. When his foster dad had kicked him out of the house telling him to go look for work somewhere else, he had also been forbidden by the old guy to use his name as a way to get a good job. He supposed to prove his worth through his cooking, not by using his dad's prestige.

Even though that was a tough thing to do, he kinda agreed with the geezer. His pride would never allow him to live under a shadow forever, even if that meant having to work his ass off as a waiter instead of a cook to be able to pay his bills. The only thing left for him to do, was try to make the man in front of him believe in what he said long enough so that he could actually cook something for the man to experiment. He put on his most confident expression and answered the maitre's comment in a calm and controlled voice.

"I'm not lying, if that's what you think. Though, I have to agree that this is not something one should say without being able to prove it, which luckily I am capable of doing if you kindly let me borrow your kitchen for a moment."

He finished the sentence with a cool smile on his lips that made the clerk's heart miss a beat. The maitre stood there stunned by the blond's sudden boost of confidence. He wondered if what the boy said was true. If it was, then all his problems could be solved right at that moment without further delay. He gazed at the waiter's only blue eye and made his decision: He needed a cook urgently, and even though that meant he would be betting high, he decided to give the blond a chance. The worse thing that could happen was the food being rejected by a few customers, and that wasn't a big deal since they had many of them.

He thought that way until he spotted the black haired star seating at the corner table. Ok, so he could end up loosing one of the best, if not THE BEST, customer the restaurant had ever had.

One look at the mess his restaurant was turning into due to the lack of food made him set his mind though.

The blond was gonna cook, and all he could do was pray.

***

Nami stared at her empty plate for the 10th time in less than five minutes and wondered why on earth her food wasn't there yet. They had been waiting for what seemed like and hour and there was still no sign of it.

She looked around to see if it was only her food that was missing and was able to deduce by the other customers unhappy faces that the phenomenon was happening all over the restaurant. She was about to call the cute blond waiter one more time when she saw something that instantly took her mind out of her stomach and shifted her attention to the front door restaurant.

She knew the boy standing there just like most people on that room, and was intrigued in the same way as everybody else when she saw him make his way to the corner table and sit with the poor-looking man wearing a black bandanna tied to his head. How the restaurant had let that kind of man in was a mystery to her, but she figured it didn't really matter since neither the maitre nor the waiters had done anything to kick the guy out yet.

She returned her gaze to the young actor whom she had been willing to meet for quite a while, and considered walking to him and introducing herself. The food was taking too long anyway, so why not join the two men at the opposite side of the room and have a little chat?

She explained her idea to the man and the woman seated across the table from her and they both agreed to it. They all stood up and made their way to the energetic boy and his mysterious friend, failing to notice that the new blond waiter was nowhere in sight.

***

Zoro went from extremely annoyed to delighted in less then a minute and he just couldn't believe it. He didn't know what kind of power that little fellow had, but he was sure it was a powerful one.

It had always been like that, since they were kids; Zoro could be in the worst mood possible but it only took one look at Luffy's smile to make him forget almost instantly about what had angered him in the first place. He liked to think that they had a mutual relationship where Luffy helped control Zoro's temper, most of the time, and Zoro, for the most part, kept Luffy out of trouble (the key words here being "most of the time" and "for the most part", NOT "always").

Before his best friend showed up, he had been contemplating in colorful fantasy, ripping that only blue eye out of the blond waiter's pretty face. He had been about to stand up and go have a nice chat with the asshole about neglecting his duties as a waiter, when he saw the very familiar face of his childhood pal coming in his direction in an incredible speed. He automatically prepared himself for the impact that would come when the raven jumped to hug him.

And the kid did exactly that, yelling his name while at it.

He couldn't help but to laugh at his friend's behavior. He was glad to know that no matter how much time passed, the young monkey would probably never change. He escaped from his friend's glue-like hug and took a step behind to examine the boy. They hadn't seen each other for about 3 months and even though Zoro would never admit it, he had missed his friend every single day.

Luffy didn't really look any different, maybe a little taller and stronger, but overall he was the same as last time Zoro had seen him.

Their long time apart was due to Luffy's super busy schedule and the fact that until 2 week before Zoro still lived at their hometown in Michigan. He moved to LA hoping to be able to pursue his dreams and, as a bonus, have better chances of meeting Luffy during his rare free time.

He couldn't say he was completely supportive of the raven's new job, since he thought being famous was a major pain in the ass (All those paparazzi and fake smiles just gave him the creeps) and it made almost impossible for them to hang out like in the old days, but he tried to keep his thoughts to himself. He knew Luffy really loved what he did and was actually good at it.

He sat back on his chair and waited until the boy did the same. They started talking about everything they had done over the past 3 months and Luffy told him excitedly about the new movie he had been invited to take part in. Zoro just listened to the boy's story for the next few minutes until Luffy finished telling it and changed the topic of the conversation to a more serious one.

"Hey Zoro, have you thought about the job offer I told you about last week? I know it sounds like a pain to you, but I bet it pays better than what you are doing right now and we'll get the chance to see each other more often!"

Zoro was about to answer when he saw three people approaching their table and acting as if they owned the place. His guard immediately went up when he saw the expression the the redhead's face. She stopped right by their table and turned her head to look at Luffy, a malicious smile playing on her face. The boy looked up and returned the smile in a very innocent kind of way, just waiting for the trio to introduce themselves.

Zoro noticed that the other two, standing a little behind the ginger, weren't nearly as interested in Luffy as the redhead seemed to be. They just stood there looking politely interested while not making any attempt to join their friend on her introduction. She spoke then, in a very seductive voice:

"Good evening boys, I hope we are not intruding." She gave them an alluring smile and didn't wait for their permission before taking a seat next to the Luffy. Zorro disliked the girl more with every passing second, but Luffy didn't seem fazed in any way by her abusive behavior. He just looked at her with an easy smile on his lips and said:

"Hi, I'm Luffy. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, we know. You are quite famous these days... I'm Nami, by the way." Luffy's grin grew larger and kept smiling happily at her. She was starting to get frustrated. He was supposed to be all over her by now, like the rest of the man she had seduced before, but for some reason he didn't seem to be affected by her presence in the least. She figured she would just have to keep trying.

"I saw you coming in and decided to come introduce myself, since we are pretty much involved in the same business and might end up working together someday."

"THAT'S SO **COOL**! So you are an actress? ! _Awesome~!!"_

"Hum...Not really an actress, but that will change soon. I plan to debut in a movie this next season and " She stopped talking when she noticed she had lost the boy's attention. She followed Luffy's gaze to the place that now held his interest and recognized it as her own table. A different waiter from the blond that had been serving them earlier that evening had brought their orders and the food looked incredible. At the sight of it, her hunger came back with full force and she decided to talk to Luffy after eating. But then, she had an idea that would make things work out even better.

"It looks like our food just arrived. Don't you guys want to join us while you wait for yours?"

The answer was instantaneous from the raven who jumped to his feet and made his way to their table without second thoughts. Zoro gave the women an annoyed look before going after his friend who was now drooling all over the food.

Nami made her way back to the booth and eyed the contents of the plates. She had never seen such a mouth-watering meal in her entire life, even the smell of it was the best. They all sat down on the couch and started to eat.

Luffy stuffed his mouth with food not even taking time to breath, while the others were a little more civilized. After just ten minutes of silence, disturbed only by the sound of their chewing, they had finished it all. They looked stunned at each other for a minute savoring the taste that lingered in their mouths, while hunger still played in their eyes. Luffy finally broke the silence by yelling what they were all thinking at that moment:

"**THIS WAS THE BEST MEAL EVER!!!"**

* * *

**I hope you all liked it ^^**

**I'll try to post the next chapter soon, but it's like I said before, I have a doujinshi to update every two weeks and that takes a lot of time to prepare...**

**I'm not dropping this story though =D**

**see you next time ;***


	2. Stage 2 Meet the cast Part 2

**_Unfortunately I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS USED ON THIS STORY. They are property of EIICHIRO ODA and I'm just a fan with too much imagination and free time._**

**Enjoy ;D**

Stage 2: Meet the cast – Part 2

Sanji was happy. He couldn't believe how lucky he was and ,without noticing, fell into an old habit of humming his favorite song while doing what he loved to do the most: cook. He hadn't had the chance to cook properly for almost 2 weeks because of all the moving he had to do, and after he got the job as a waiter it became increasingly harder to find the energy to even go near his kitchen.

He had never thought that moving was hard until he finally had the chance to experiment it. He found out that packing was a bitch and unpacking was even worse (having to choose which clothes he would take with him and which ones he would leave behind was just NOT something he considered fun. He loved all his clothes dearly).

He ended up spending more than a month trying to find a nice place to stay in LA, and had to settle for a tiny and filthy apartment because he didn't have money to pay for anything better.

Moving sucked, and not being able to cook sucked in double.

But at that moment, his unhappy memories about the previous week were cast to the dark side of his brain and all he could think about was how to please the hungry customers of Logue town.

He hadn't actually thought that the maitre would let him cook for the restaurant without tasting his food first, but after hearing about the whole situation he kinda understood why.

Apparently, the main chef fell sick on the kitchen floor earlier that day, and had to be taken to the hospital. The maitre didn't call a replacement thinking that the remaining cooks could handle the evening rush without needing any extra help, but it turned out that they couldn't. Without a chef around the apprentices had no idea of what to do first, and that led to the lack of food with which Sanji had to cope, making sure no customers threw a fit over the delay of their orders.

He was glad that his little tough-guy-act had been convincing enough or he wouldn't have gotten the job.

He moved around the kitchen giving orders to the apprentices and efficiently getting every meal done in a very short amount of time. Because of the mess that the kitchen had become after the chef's departure, now he had to work twice as fast as his normal speed to finish all the pilled up orders and to be able to work on the new ones that were coming up with every passing second.

Sanji could finally see why the restaurant was so popular; the ingredients were first class and the menu had all kinds of delicious food. They were predominantly very complicated dishes that most people had never heard of, but that Sanji knew very well. He had learned them with his dad, and the old geezer had made sure he could prepare every single one of them with his eyes closed.

He finished cutting the vegetables and left them to boil on the stove at perfect temperature, already getting everything ready to cook the meat. The other cooks stared at him in disbelief. The guy had barely stepped into the kitchen and everything was already going back to how it should be.

They saw as the man, that they thought was just a waiter, walked around doing a hundred things at once and getting everything ready before they even had the chance to start. The reason why the blond had been working as a waiter instead of a cook was a mystery to them, because it was obvious that the he knew exactly what he was doing and that he had lot of working experience. They decided to follow his lead and wait to see how things were going to turn out.

* * *

Outside the kitchen, the maitre was baiting his nails as he watched the customers starting to eat the food prepared by the new blond chef. He had his eyes particularly glued to the booth table where now sat not only Luffy D. Monkey ( super newcomer ) but also Nami ( very popular model ), Robin Nico ( ex- supermodel ) and Franky ( famous Water-7 band ex-drummer). As he watched them eat, he paid attention to every small gesture that might signal any dissatisfaction in relation to the food. He held his breath when he saw them finish and his heart almost stopped when the black haired boy stood up and after a few moments yelled:

"THIS WAS THE BEST MEAL EVER!!!"

He blinked a few times to process what he had just seen and heard. The boy had liked the food... Hadn't he? How was that even possible? Did that mean that what the blond waiter had said was actually true?

He looked around to see if the other customers were reacting differently and realized that they were all smiling and talking excitedly about their meals. He breathed in relief and was about to go back to his office and relax a little (he hadn't gotten any rest since the chef had passed out and now he was exhausted ) when he saw Nami's hand signal for him to come over to her table. He complied and made his way the booth. She smiled sweetly at him and started speaking in a very sweet tone:

" Excuse us Mr...what's your name?"

" Hum... S-Spandam."

"Mr. Spandam then. We'd be _delighted_to meet the chef who made this wonderful meal, could you arrange that for us? Please~?" While saying that she bent over the table in a way that made her breasts almost jump out of her low-cut shirt. The maitre's eyes widened when he saw it and he gulped.

He couldn't just call the blond cook out there as a chef after he had worked all night as a waiter... It would look bad for the restaurant's image. Still, those were **very**special clients and Nami was such a lovely lady that he couldn't just disappoint her like that... It should be OK to do it though, as long as they agreed to keep the blonde's true identity from rest of the restaurant.

"I'd love to do that, Miss, but our new chef is quite peculiar. He likes to work as a waiter sometimes to be able to interact with the customers and socialize. Because of that, it would be very troublesome for the restaurant's image if he just came out of the kitchen and said he was the chef after having worked as a waiter during most part of the day."

Nami frowned at the maitre's explanation. A chef that liked to disguise himself as a waiter to socialize? How stupid was that? She knew for a fact that chefs were allowed to come out of the kitchen and talk to the customers if they really wanted to. It was a very common occurrence actually.

There was something wrong with that story but she decided not to pry yet. The maitre still looked like he had something to say so she decided to remain quiet and listen.

"I could do it though, if you kept the waiter's identity a secret. I mean, I will bring him here and you can talk to him for a while pretending he's just a normal waiter. How does that sound?"

"_Like bullshit _" was what Nami wanted to say but decided to keep it to herself. She could be just a model but she knew how to act when she wanted to, and at that time she figured it wouldn't be a good idea to start an argument with the man. She had gotten what she wanted and that was all that really mattered. She nodded and blinked her eyes seductively before answering:

"Great. That will do just fine." The maitre bowed slightly and went in the direction of the kitchen. Nami turned to look at the other four, waiting to see their reactions to the conversation.

Franky spoke first:

" Was it just me or did that guy really make up the story about the chef?"

"It sounded very weird indeed." commented Robin while eying the maitre's back.

" He had a very funny face and the way he drooled over your boobs was just hilarious!" Luffy laughed heartedly until Nami glared his way and he promptly shut up.

" He could use some beating." Zoro added frowning. " He's got this asshole vibe coming out of him"

"Let's not be hasty, shall we? You can't just go around beating people up because you **think **that they are bad. Only an idiot would do that." Nami said kicking Zoro under the table.

"Ouch! Your bitch, that hur-"

"Then Zoro is an Idiot, cause he does that all the time!" Luffy butted in earning a death glare from his best friend. "What? It's true! You've done it many times since we-"

"Shut up already, will you?" This time it was Zoro's turn to kick under the table, aiming for Luffy's leg but missing it and kicking Nami's instead.

"Ouch! You fucker, you just kicked me! If this leaves a bruise I'm _so_gonna kill you!" Robin and Franky had to hold her so she wouldn't jump on Zoro, while Luffy just laughed hysterically at his friends behavior. They were starting to attract the other customer's attention.

"Better yet, I'm gonna sue you for _harassing_ me!"

Right at that moment, a scared Zoro got hit hard in the head by something he hadn't seen coming, which was strange because he was trained in many different martial arts and could easily sense an attack coming his way.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he yelled as soon as he realized what had happened.

Right in front of their table stood the same blond waiter that had so shamelessly ignored him earlier that night. His head hurt like hell while his eyes took in his opponent's appearance. He hadn't had the chance to see the waiter closely until then, but now he could see clearly the man's only blue eye and long lean body.

He had his hands inside his pockets and a unlit cigarette hung on his lips. He wore the standardized black and white waiter's uniform and as Zoro examined the man's face he noticed that the blond had a very pale skin with a bit of facial hair on his chin and...

_What the fuck was that on the guy's face_? Was that his _eyebrow_? Maybe it was bug...no, it was surely an eyebrow. _So fucking hilarious! _

"W-what's up with that fucked up eyebrow?!" He couldn't stop laughing and his stomach was starting to hurt. " How can you even go out on the streets looking like tha-" he was interrupted by one of the waiter's feet coming fast in the direction of his ribs. He automatically jump to the floor and rolled to the opposite side of the man. That prick had almost succeeded on hitting him _again. _

He stopped laughing and stared hard into the blonde's only visible eye. He could see anger there, a lot of it, and the guy was fuming. Zoro realized he had done a good job pissing the guy off. Adrenaline invaded his system as felt the man's powerful aura.

He was no ordinary guy, of that Zoro was sure.

* * *

Sanji was pissed. So pissed that he could beat the shit out of someone without having to think twice about it, and that was exactly what he planned to do to the guy kneeling in front of him.

He had been in a very good mood before he had stepped out of the kitchen and seen one of his lovely angels distressed over the idiot ogre. As he came closer to the booth, he heard the redheaded angel yell while two of her friends held each of her arms in an attempt to keep her from strangling the man seated across the table from her.

After taking a few more steps he had been able to understand what she was saying:

"Better yet, I'm gonna sue you for _harassing_ me!"

At that Sanji saw red. What the hell had that asshole done to such a beautiful lady?

Whatever it was, he would pay for it and Sanji would make sure of it.

He had taken out a cigarette and put it on his mouth before resuming his walk to the booth. He wasn't allowed to smoke inside the restaurant but it wouldn't be a problem just having it between his lips. Of all the the shit he had to deal with while working at Logue town, the "No smoking" rule was the one he hated the most. His cigarette was like a part of his body and he needed it to feel comfortable and to get ready for a battle.

When he finally reached the table, he lifted his leg up and, without even thinking, unleashed it against the filthy guy's skull. He heard the pleasant sound of his foot connecting to the man's head and that lifted his mood a bit. He watched as the man came back to his senses and yelled at him:

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

For the next few seconds they had just stared at each other. Sanji looked at the man's messy appearance and was able to examine the guy's face in detail. He saw sharp features and very dark eye's that were shadowed by the black bandanna tied to the man's head. He also noticed how muscular the guy really was beneath his clothes and the presence of three golden earrings hanging on his left ear.

Even though the man's whole image screamed DANGER, Sanji didn't even think about escaping from the confrontation. He loved to fight almost as much as he loved to cook, and just like the latter, he hadn't gotten around doing it in a while. This was a perfect chance to release some stress and to practice his fighting skills.

His attention was suddenly drawn then to the man's odd behavior; he had started laughing hysterically while staring at the cook's face. Sanji saw as a finger was pointed at his head and heard the guy's attempt to speak while struggling to control his laughter:

"W-what's up with that fucked up eyebrow?! How can you even go out on the streets looking like tha-"

The blond didn't let the guy finish his sentence. He was gonna KILL the fucker. He kicked him once again, this time aiming for the man's left side, and saw as the guy dodged in an incredible speed rolling to the floor. So the creep could fight a little, big deal! He still wanted to beat the crap out of the bastard. Even if he was a scary-as-hell bastard with a very powerful aura.

Sanji breathed deeply and attacked once again. He started with a butterfly twist*,which the other man escaped by jumping out of the way, followed by a foot sweep* a handspin*and finishing off the sequence with a kick-the-moon full twist* that barely scrapped the guy's shoulder. His opponent had dodged it with a back-flip and tried to hit him with a well thrown punch aimed to his face, which Sanji deflected in the last second.

The blond had completely forgotten that they were in the middle of the restaurant until the sound of cheering brought him back to the real world. He looked around and saw that many of the customers were applauding and yelling excitedly for them to continue fighting. He also noticed that the people seated at the booth table were enjoying the show way to much:

The redhead had started taking bets from the other clients on who would win the fight, while the blue-haired man hit the table as if using it as a set of drums to create a soundtrack for the conflict; the black haired boy jumped on the seats clapping his hands and urging them to resume their match and, to complete the scene, the oldest raven just watched everything with a very malicious smile playing on her face.

At least they hadn't destroyed anything yet.

He knew it was only a question of time though.

_Fuck._ He was so gonna get fired.

* * *

Zoro was thrilled. It had been so long since he had found someone who he could fight with for real that he didn't even mind having an audience. He regretted not having his swords with him though. He had learned many fighting styles ever since he was a kid, but his favorite one, and the one he was the best at, was sword fighting.

Just by watching the blond execute perfectly all those deadly capoeira* moves, he felt the need to hold a sword. After dodging a few attacks, he realized he couldn't match the blond's hand-to-hand combat skills, so he chose to concentrate his energy on avoiding getting hit by those powerful legs. He couldn't believe how such a delicate-looking body could produce all those fierce attacks.

He finally had some time to catch his breath when the waiter stopped his offense to take a looked around them. Zoro could tell that the guy had just noticed their growing audience by the velocity with which blood drained from his face.

He saw as the guy crushed the cigarette between his lips and swore under his breath. The blond turned to face him again and talked in a cool and controlled voice:

"Hey asshole, let's take this outside. I don't have the money to pay for any of the shit that we'll end up breaking inside this restaurant and I bet you don't either." Zoro nodded and started making his way to the back of the room where the kitchen was located.

"The door to the street is on the other side, you moron" the swordsman stopped suddenly and turned to walk the opposite direction, working hard to hide his embarrassment.

They were almost at the door when they heard somebody's voice calling them over all the noise that filled the room. Zoro saw the blond's face twist into a grimace as he turned to look at the owner of the voice.

The maitre stood right in the middle of the restaurant with a livid expression on his face. He yelled angrily at the blond.

"What is the meaning of all this?! Mr. Blackleg, would you care to explain to me WHY ON EARTH WERE YOU FIGHTING IN THE MIDDLE OF MY RESTAURANT?! GET YOUR PUSSY BACK HERE, NOW!"

Sanji made no attempt to move. He just stood still looking impassive.

"DID YOU HEAR ME YOU STUPID PRICK? I TOLD YOU TO COME OVER HERE!"

The blond still showed no reaction.

" I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE FROM THE MOMENT YOU WALKED THROUGH THAT DOOR AND THAT'S WHY I OBJECTED HIRING YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE! I'LL MAKE SURE TO REPORT TO THE BOSS ABOUT THE MESS THAT YOU'VE CAUSED, AND YOU'LL BE FIRED ON THE SPOT!"

The maitre laughed cruelly at that. His eyes moved to look at the man standing beside the blond. He remember who the guy was and why he had been allowed to eat there in the first place. His laughs grew louder as he started yelling at him.

" AND YOU THERE, WITH THE NASTY LOOK! YOU WORK FOR THE OWNER RIGHT? HAHAHA I'LL MAKE SURE TO TELL HIM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE ON HIS PRECIOUS RESTAURANT! YOU'LL HAVE THE SAME FATE AS THAT STUPID BLOND IF YOU DON'T COME HERE AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO, GOT IT?!"

The swordsman was surprised by that. The fucker had just threatened to _fire_ him.

He had been right all the time; the man was just as much of an asshole as he thought he was in the first place.

He wasn't sure of what he should do next, so he turned to the waiter for ideas and saw that the man was immersed on his own thoughts. He decided to wait for the blond to come back to life before taking any drastic measures that could accidentally influence on the guy's situation. He might not **like** the bastard but he didn't **hate** him either, so he was just being careful not to ruin the man's life together with his own.

* * *

Inside Sanji's head, he saw the past week being played like a movie; The day he had come in looking for a job and how the maitre had treated him like shit because he didn't have a recommendation letter.

How, after the owner of the restaurant had hired him, he had to endure the maitre's bickering about his lack of proper manners as a waiter and, to finish, how the man yelling at him at that very moment had done everything possible to make his life miserable at the restaurant.

The only good thing the guy had ever done to him was let him take the chef's position (which Sanji was pretty sure had nothing to do with kindness and a lot to do with the fact that he was desperately trying to fix his own mistake).

Summarizing, the man currently yelling at him was a major son of a bitch, and Sanji had no desire left to pretend that he respected and feared him.

He shifted his gaze to look at the man he had just been fighting with, and they exchanged glares.

Sanji had heard from the restaurant's clerk that the guy wearing the black bandanna was to be served free food because he was currently working for the owner of the restaurant in some sort of project, which, coincidentally, put them both in quite the same situation.

He could feel that the dangerous man standing beside him was thinking the same thing as himself.

Who cared about getting fired anyway? They could always look for new jobs somewhere else.

What they **couldn't **do was stand the maitre's presence for another second without turning violent.

Which was what led them to close the distance between themselves and the man standing on the middle of the room. They could hear a bit of the maitre's faint voice inside their adrenaline altered minds as they came closer and closer to their target.

"So you two mules finally decided to obey my orders and-"

The man's blabbing was interrupted by a right hook punch thrown against his jaw and a spinning kick perfectly aimed at his temple. The maitre fell unconsciously on the floor with big bruise on his chin and a growing bump on his head.

Zoro and Sanji admired their work for a moment before exchanging glances once again. They felt so much better after releasing their anger that they couldn't help but to laugh.

"That was a very impressive right hook*punch that you performed " Commented the blond after taking a moment to calm down.

"Your Half-moon compass*kick wasn't so bad either" said the other man with a big smile on his face.

They both turned around when they heard people approaching them from behind. Standing there were two men and the two women smiling at them.

Luffy was the first one to speak:

"THAT WAS JUST AWESOME!!!" He threw his head back and laughed hard.

"I agree. It was very impressive" added Robin with a small smile on the corner of her lips "Though, I must warn you that the police is probably on it's way."

Both man froze at that. They had completely disregarded the fact that what they had just done could throw them in jail.

"Fuck, this is all your fault, asshole!You punched him first!" Sanji yelled at Zoro while pointing to the unconscious man laying on the floor a few feet away from them.

"MY fault?! I just punched the guy, you fucking KICKED HIM IN THE HEAD!" Zoro argued back, annoyance starting to grow inside of him once again.

"Boys, boys, let's not make things worse, shall we?" Nami butted in pressing a hand on each of their chests to keep them apart. She was well aware though, that they could get rid of her very easily if they really wanted to. They were both monsters in her opinion.

" Yeah, bros, take it easy. You'll end up sharing the same cell anyway, so it will be better if you get along, right?" Zoro and Sanji shared a disgusted look.

"Shup up Franky, you are not helping." Nami grabbed the two irritated man by the collar of their shirts and dragged them to stay face to face with her.

"You'll both behave now while we take care of the situation and then we will go outside, understood?"

She spoke in a very threatening tone and her eyes shinned with something that scared the shit out of the two man who just nodded and did as they were told.

Robin talked to the clerk for a few minutes before signaling them to go outside. Shortly after, they were all standing at the parking lot of the restaurant and she faced the two man with a mysterious expression on her face.

" I talked to the clerk and I believe you two will be fine." Zoro and Sanji sighed in relief. " That's in relation to the police issue, I don't know anything about your jobs."

Sanji released a frustrated grunt while Zoro just looked annoyed.

"You should probably go home now and think about what you are going to do from now on in case things really turn out badly" She finished her speech with a soft smile.

"Thank you mademoiselle, I appreciate your help very much" The blond bowed and then turned to the others.

" I should get going then, but first, I'd like to know the reason you called me earlier"

" The reason...?What are you talking about?" the redhead asked in confusion.

"You requested to see the chef, remember?"

"Hold on a second, yes, we did call the chef, not yo...Wait, are you saying that you are the-"

"Chef? Yes, he is" Completed the black haired woman. All the others looked at her in surprise.

"How the hell did you know that?!" Nami asked with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah babe, when did he tell you?" Franky added curiously.

"Maybe she's got psych powers" Luffy commented and his eyes glowed at the mental image of his suggestion.

"Or maybe she just figured it out after hearing that story about the new chef and realizing that the food was delivered a few minutes after Blondie here vanished." Zoro commented while meeting Robin's eyes. He felt as if the raven's gaze could invade his soul and examine everything inside of him, it gave him the creeps.

She finally broke the eye contact and turned to the others with a smile.

"It's just like the man here says. I deduced it after noticing a few things."

"Does that mean that you are the person who cooked our food?" Luffy asked the blond barely containing his excitement. Sanji nodded and smiled at the boy.

"You are so COOL!!! Can you cook my lunch everyday?Please~!"

"I'd love to able to eat your food again too" Robin said resting a hand on the cook's shoulder.

"Yeah dude, I'd totally pay you to cook for me again someday." Franky added with a smile.

Nami slapped the cook's back in a friendly way before saying:

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about. We wanted to ask if you could cook for us once in a while. You know how we, famous people, are; we barely have time to eat, and when we do, we end up eating a lot o crap."

"I'd be delighted to do it! Now that I don't have a job anymore, I'll have a lot of free time, so you can call me anytime you want that I'll make some food and deliver it to you"

He took out a notepad and a pen from his apron's pocket and scribbled down his phone number on 4 pieces of paper. He handed each of them to a different person and smiled.

He was well aware of the fact that he had 'forgotten' someone, but he didn't feel like being nice to the asshole. The man hadn't even bothered commenting on his food and Sanji was sure Zoro had no interest in calling him to order anything. So why give him his phone number in the first place?

* * *

Zoro just watched the blond hand out his number to everyone excluding him. It was ok, he didn't mind one bit. Why would he want the blond's phone number, anyway? He didn't even have the money to buy some crappy food, much less to pay for the fancy stuff that the shitty cook could make.

He didn't care at all.

At least that's what he kept telling himself.

* * *

The group finally decided it was time to call it a night and started saying their goodbyes. Zoro was the first one to leave, briefly hugging Luffy and then politely wishing good night to everybody else (aside from the cook). He crossed the street and disappeared into the dark.

Sanji was next. He firstly bowed to Nami and Robin, then shook hands with Franky and Luffy. He unlocked his bike, waved a last time at his new friends, and rode home.

The cook was followed by Franky. The older man said some quick farewell words to Nami and Luffy and kissed the oldest raven on the cheek before getting inside his car and heading home.

Nami was about to leave too when Robin called her name.

"Miss Mikan, I'd like to have a quick word with you. Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Is there anything wrong?"

" I also need to talk to you, Mr. Monkey"

She turned to look at the boy who was entertaining himself by thinking about all the food he would order from Sanji the next day. He looked back at the woman and nodded, partially disappointed to be taken away from his mouth watering fantasy.

"I just need to ask each of you a favor" She made sure they were paying attention before continuing.

"You are both gonna be at Grand Line studios tomorrow, right?"

They nodded in surprise. How had she known that they would be there? Nami was sure she hadn't told anybody about the place where the meeting for her new movie was going to be held, and she barely knew the raven anyway.

They met for the first time during a photo shoot when Nami was just a beginner and Robin still worked as a model. After that, they had had a few other work related encounters and one or two casual meeting at restaurant's such as Logue town. This day in particular, their meeting had been a total coincidence.

Nami had met the raven and her blue-haired boyfriend earlier that evening on the same parking lot where they stood at the moment, and they had decided to share a table and chat a little. Simple like that.

And now the women just knew her schedule for the next day. Creepy hum?

Maybe she really was psych.

Even though he was a little surprised, Luffy wasn't nearly as puzzled as Nami about Robin knowledge of where he would be at working the next day.

That was because he was sure she had special powers such as mind reading and stuff. Why wouldn't she be able to see the future too? It was totally possible.

So he just waited patiently for what the mysterious woman had to say next.

"Ok then. First, I want you, Mr. Monkey, to call your friend with the bandanna and ask him to come visit you at the studio tomorrow. Tell him that a job interview it's going to be held and that it'll be a good chance for him to get a job as a stunt man."

Luffy lifted his hand as if in a classroom asking permission to speak. Robin nodded letting him know he could talk.

"I have already called him last week telling him to do that, and he said he was going to think about it. But I think he doesn't want to be a stunt man even though he'd totally kick butt at it!"

He frowned. He couldn't understand his friend's hesitation on taking the job that he knew it would be just perfect for him.

Robin smiled at the cute boy's dilemma.

"Good then, you can ask him again. Don't worry, he'll come this time."

She knew he would because of the events that had happened that very same day. Zoro had just lost his job and he needed to find a new one quickly or he wouldn't have money to buy food or to pay for the place he lived in.

Judging by the man's worn out clothes, she was pretty sure he didn't have any saved cash for emergencies, so his only choice would be to accept the job offer.

That would place him exactly where Robin wanted him to be.

"What about me?" Nami asked, curiosity growing inside of her.

"I'd like for you to call our newly acquired private cook and order a meal from him"

"That's it? Well, I was going to do that anyway." She shrugged a little disappointed.

"Make sure to ask him to deliver it at the studio no later than 2:00 pm tomorrow. Same to your friend" She turned to face the boy. "Tell him to come by for the interview at that time" Luffy shook his head to show his understanding.

Robin smiled maliciously.

"It's time to raise the curtains then."

* * *

*Capoeira = Brazilian martial art. (the other "* "are capoeira moves)

I think it's the closest real fighting style to what Sanji uses on the original story. I also thought of using savate (a French style) but if you watch a high level Capoeira fight you will see why I chose it instead.

Capoeira players kick ass XD

* * *

**Hey everyone!**

**Sorry for taking so long to update, but like I said before, I also have a Doujinshi to work on and I need desperately someone to check my work after I finish writing a chapter.**

**I plan on posting at least every two weeks, but I won't make promises cause I might not be able to keep them ^^'**

**The story is just starting but I already have a lot of stuff I want to put on it, so I hope you are patient. Smut and H stuff will come in the future, just not so soon. I want this to be a story, not a porn magazine =3**

**Thank you for all your comments, they are what motivates me to write , so keep it up! =D**

**Pardon my grammar mistakes, I'll see what I can do about them on future chapter u.u'**

**See ya XD**


	3. Stage 3 Audition!

**Hi everyone! **

**I'm sorry for taking so long to update u.u' I actually traveled during christmas and New year's break and didn't have much time to write or draw, so that's pretty much the reason for my lack of updates.**

**To compensate for that, this is an awfully long chapter that took me forever to finish. I hope you can enjoy it =D**

* * *

Stage 3: Audition?!

Zoro was moody.

Most people would say that that was a normal occurrence due to his personality, but these people didn't know him well enough. In reality, Zoro was like any other person.

He got in a "bad mood" when he was stressed or when something bad happened.

He got in a "normal mood", when things weren't good nor bad,

and he actually got in a "good mood" at least twice a week, when he had a chance to go to a bar and drink booze until he felt satisfied.

He just didn't feel the need to express his happiness all the time (because that was tiring and unnecessary) so he kept a composed posture that was often mistaken by grumpiness and irritation.

At the current moment though, he had many reasons to be annoyed. Firstly, he had woken up at 7 am to the lovely sounds of his roommates having sex as if the world was about to end. He didn't really mind that his friends fucked while he was at home, as long as they did it _inside their own room_, and with the _door closed. _When he first moved in with Johnny and Yosaku, he had made them promise to follow the "no sex outside the bedroom rule" but somehow, in this particular day, they seemed to have forgotten about it. Which meant that the green haired man had had to walk into their not-so-private love scene to kick them out of the living room. Zoro might not have done a chastity vow, but he still had no desire to see or hear any of it.

The second thing that had contributed to his present grim mood, was the fact that he had, once again, joined the infamous group of man and woman across the country who didn't execute a profitable activity for living; commonly known as "unemployed people". It had happened the previous night right after he got home from the restaurant. His boss called and gave him a long sermon about "lost trust" and possible law suits, which ended with a very colorful farewell from the man and resulted in Zoro losing his job.

Zoro knew it would happen sooner or later. There was no way he could have punched the restaurant's maitre and gotten away with it.

He just wished the owner had cut the crap and got straight to the point. He lost some good forty minutes of his life listening to the man's bullshit while he could had done something more useful like finding a new job. He really wished he could find a place to work without having to go crazy after it '_cause that would be a pain in the butt'._

As if answering to his pleads, Luffy had called him later on that same night:

"_Hey Zoro! You home yet?_"

"Yeah, got here a few hours ago"

" _Aww! I wanna see your new place~!_"

"You can't. You're busy right? Besides, I can't let you meet Johnny and Yosaku, they'd be a bad influences for you."

"_Your new roommates? I WANNA MEET THEM!!! CAN I GO THERE NOW?! PLEASE!!!_"

"Shh! Don't yell on the phone!"

"_Ah! Sorry._"

"It's OK, and no, you can't come here. I've already told you last time you called that you have to wait until you get some free time. You said you have work tomorrow morning, didn't you? It's getting late, you should go to sleep now."

"_Aww, Zoro! How mean~! You sound just like Shanks... Anyway, I guess I can wait until next weekend. That's not the reason why I called though._"

Zoro could tell his friend was getting excited on the other end of the line, and that made him smile a bit. Luffy had always been like that and he could picture the boy's expression perfectly on his mind just by hearing his voice.

Luffy's loud whine brought his attention back to the conversation:

"_Zoro? Are you there? HELLO~?_"

"Hum, I'm sorry, what was that again? I kinda got distracted"

"_Can you come to Grand Line studios tomorrow?_"

"What for?"

"_For the stunt man job interview!_"

"Oh, so that's what you have been on about. I don't really feel like it."

"_Come on! It's gonna be __**so much fun**__~! You'll be working with me! Didn't you want us to hang out more?"_

True, he did want that. And he had to admit that being a stunt man was probably a lot of fun too. Basically, he would get paid to do some really cool stuff such as fighting, cliff jumping, water diving, radical driving etc. If he just thought about it in that aspect, he would have to admit that it was probably one of the coolest jobs on earth.

The bad thing about it though, was that he would be working behind the scenes of the so acclaimed "show business", and that meant being right in the middle of all the shit that happened within it. He knew for a fact that not everyone there was nice and honest like Luffy. Zoro would have to put up with all the back-stabbing that went on backstage, and he wasn't so sure he would be able to bear it. He just hated that kind of environment, it made him wanna rip every single one of those fake smiles right off their pretty faces.

That had been the main reason why he hadn't given in to Luffy's proposal yet; he was afraid of what might happen if he lost his control for even a second.

"I don't really think it's a good idea, Luffy"

"_It will be fine! You are perfect for it!_"

"That's not the problem. I've already explained to you why- "

"_The thing about losing control right? Don't worry about it, I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid. Just come! You really need a job, don't you?_"

"Yeah..." Zoro sighed in defeat. "Ok, ok, I'll go tomorrow, happy? I can always resign anyway."

"_SWEEEEEEEEEEEET! I'll see you at 2 pm then. Robin said for you not to be late._"

"Robin? She's that scary woman with black hair isn't she? What does she have to do with anything?"

"_Ops! I wasn't supposed to say that. Just forget about it. Good night, Zoro, see you tomorrow!_"

Click.

Zoro stared confused at his phone.

_'Robin_?'

Luffy had been talking about this job offer for about week already, how come was she involved with any of it? Had Luffy met her before the previous night?

'_Yesterday he acted as if they had just met...'_

The mystery ended up bugging him all night and contributing greatly to his current bad mood, and that wasn't even the last of his problems.

As he entered his kitchen the following morning to get some breakfast, Zoro was kindly reminded of the fact that he lived in what most people would find appropriate to call a dump. The whole apartment was a mess of dirty dishes and rapidly growing mold, and even though he himself wasn't too keen of doing house work, he had found it impossible to avoid while living with two other young men. He also happened to be the _only_ _one_ who actually cared about doing some laundry and eventually washing the dishes.

He was proud to say his bedroom was the neatest place in the house, and that was mostly because he didn't allow any of his friends to set a foot inside it. He kept it almost empty of furniture and avoided bringing food in, what made it look cleaner than it actually was. In reality, he hadn't vacuumed the place nor cleaned the windows even once since he moved in, 6 months before, and he had no intention of doing it anytime soon.

What kind of guy did that anyway?

***

Apparently, one with golden hair and curly eyebrows.

On a different part of the city, Sanji shared the same state of spirit as Zoro for quite similar reasons.

Sanji had also woken up to unpleasant noises but, in his case, it had nothing to do with roommates consummating their love and a lot to do with water. He had woken up that morning to the annoying sound of dripping water and had quickly realized that it filled not only his dreams, but his whole apartment as well. With growing irritation, he stepped out of bed and was welcomed to the ground by a soaking rug. After a quick look around the small house, he had to face the fact that it wasn't just his bedroom floor that was wet; his living room and kitchen were also looking as if they had just been flooded.

He moved around the place in panic trying to figure out what was going on for a few minutes until he was finally able to detect where all the liquid was coming from. To his _delight_, a pipe had exploded on his laundry room during the night and all the water from the entire building had been redirected from the other apartments to his own. The water inside of the small room reached half way up his shins, and all his previously dry laundry had gone to waste. Sanji couldn't help but to express his frustration.

"FUCK!!! I HATE THIS PLACE!"

He yelled while kicking the pipe and accidentally turning it to his face, splashing cold water all over his bare upper body and pajama pants.

"_ARG!"_

He went inside the kitchen dripping all around the already wet floor and grabbed the phone. He would have to ask the syndic to turn off the water of the whole damn building until he got that shitty pipe fixed. He yelled at the man making sure he understood his dissatisfaction and went to his room in order to change clothes and get ready to deal with the mess that his house had become.

For once he was glad that he lived in a tiny apartment.

It consisted basically of a small bedroom attached to a simple bathroom, a kitchen-living room with a small balcony, and the smallest laundry room he had ever seen. The cook hated it for many reason, the most important ones being the building's lack of charm, the ridiculously small kitchen and it's obvious need of fixing. He had tried really hard to find a nicer place, but after spending a whole month at it he had decided to stick with the cheapest since he didn't plan on living in it for too long. He thought that after getting a job he would quickly make enough money to move to a better place.

Of course he had been wrong.

After working for just a week he comprehended that it would take a much longer than what he initially had in mind to save that much money; LA was a expensive city after all.

While cleaning his apartment, the blond thought it was actually a good thing he didn't have to work that day. If he did, he was pretty sure the place would be covered in mold by the time he got back and he wouldn't have had the energy to clean it up before going to bed.

Just like Zoro, Sanji had been fired the day before. To his luck though, the lovely redhead he had met earlier in the day had called him to order some food. He had promptly agreed on preparing her a wonderful meal and taking it to Grand Line studios around 2 o'clock of the next day.

The thought of seeing Nami once again helped him to finish all the cleaning in an hour and gave him enough time to start cooking. He was glad to find out that he still had enough water on his fridge to cook what she had ordered. He needed to call a plummer as soon as possible though, or he would end up having to eat frozen food that night, and that was just unthinkable.

Maybe he should ask Gin for some help. The man seemed to know a lot about that kind of stuff and he happened to live in the building next door. He could even ask him to use his shower before going out. He couldn't just go see his angel all sweaty and dirty, could he?

***

Around 12:00 pm, Sanji had finished cooking and had decided to follow his plan of talking to Gin.

His friend's apartment was much like his own, but with a better view of the city since it was on the 12th floor instead of the 3rd . He knocked on the door and waited for the answer. Now that he was there, he realized he didn't even know if the man was home or not. He should probably have called before coming over.

He wasn't all that concerned about being polite though. Gin had told him a while before, that he could drop by any time he wanted without having to announce himself first, and he had gotten quite used to that. They lived so close to each other that Sanji practically lived at the man's house.

He heard the sound of keys turning on the lock and the door sprung open. Gin looked at him and smiled warmly.

"Hey Sanji-san, good morning"

Gin was Japanese and ever since their first encounter he had addressed the blond by adding "san" to his name. Sanji later found out that it meant the same as "sir" and ended up spending several months trying to convince his friend to drop the title without any success. He gave up on it after a while because the Asian seemed to have a hard time doing it, and the suffix had grown on him ever since.

Gin was a thin guy with short black hair and dark circles under his eyes that, for some reason, always looked kinda sick. The blond had asked him once if he had some sort of disease and he had denied it, smiling softly and quickly changing the topic of their conversation to something completely different. Sanji decided after that not to discuss health matters with him anymore.

"Hi there"

The cook smiled back at his friend and lifted the plastic the bag he carried on his right hand.

"Here's some food a just finished cooking. I was wondering if you would be willing to let me use your shower in exchange for it"

He talked while lighting a cigarette an putting it on his mouth. He knew Gin wouldn't mind him smoking inside his place, he had done it plenty of times already. In fact, the sick-looking man would let him do pretty much anything he wanted inside his apartment. He had even offered Sanji a spare key once, which the blond declined politely.

The cook's eyes met his friend's and saw in them mixture of surprise and confusion. He decided to explain his situation before saying anything else.

"The thing is, a shitty pipe exploded on my apartment and I have no water until I can get someone to fix it." He took a deep drag from what was probably his 15th cigarette that morning (Yeah, he was stressed, so what?)and went on with the explanation. "I have to deliver some food in 2 hours and I can't really do it looking like I've just fought a lion. And lost."

He saw a single eyebrow lift questionably on his friend's face.

"Do you see this?" He pointed to his tousled hair. Gin looked at it with an amused smile on his lips."Yeah, like I said, a lion. Can I come in now?"

Gin snickered and stepped aside letting the cook into his kitchen.

"You are such a girl sometimes, you know that?" He said while closing the door behind them.

"Shut up" Sanji replied with fake annoyance while placing the plastic bag in a counter mear the oven.

He headed for the bathroom without further delay; he knew the place almost as well as his own. He stopped at the bathroom's door and turned to look at the owner of the house. Gin had his eyes glued on him, as if he had been watching his every move.

"I'll help myself then. Make sure to knock first if you need to come in, OK? I hate when people don't do that"

Gin quickly looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"S-sure...Don't worry about it, I won't come in." He turned his back to the blond who just shrugged and went inside of the bathroom.

It was weird how sometimes Gin seemed to forget that they were both males. Sanji didn't really care to be seen naked by another guy, he was pretty sure nothing he had to show was new to any other man. He wondered if his friend's shyness had to do with his culture. He had heard once that Japanese people could be very conservative and shy, so maybe that was it.

He didn't have time to think about that at the moment though. He had to get ready or he would be late to meet his lovely lady, and he couldn't just make Nami wait, could he?

***

Zoro stood in front of the place he had spent 4 hours trying to find.

He didn't really know how he had missed it, the building was just HUGE. It was located on the Hollywood district of LA and it had written in big shinny letters the words "GRAND LINE STUDIOS" right on it's front. He should have been able to see it from at least a 2 miles distance, but then, that was how it always worked for him; no maps, GPS or street signs did much to help his poor sense of direction. At least he had left home with some time to spare in case he got lost on his way to the studio (5 hours to be more especific).

All in all, what really mattered to him was that he wasn't going to be late for his job interview, though he would make sure Luffy and his roommates were kept in the dark about his trip this morning. They were already way too enthusiastic about everything for their own good and giving them one more thing to joke about would be like digging his own grave.

He searched for a side door or something less fancy then the main entrance of the studio. Even though he looked better than he had on the day before, he still wasn't dressed nearly as good as most people that walked on that street. He could smell money in the air as he glanced around the place.

Zoro wore a tight sleeveless shirt that showed his well toned upper body and a comfortable pair of black jeans that shaped his butt nicely. He wasn't wearing anything on his head and his short green hair shone against the sun. His three earrings were well in place, and a nice pair of combat boots protected his feet. He didn't look rich or fancy, but he was clean and he had shaved. Without the black bandanna around his head, his appearance was much less scary.

He was happy that he wasn't attracting nasty stares from people on the streets anymore, and despite the fact that his hair easily stood out, the glances he drew now had a completely different meaning the the ones from the night before. Both women and men checked him out shamelessly, and some even complimented his butt.

He didn't pay attention to any of it though.

He was on a mission and nothing would keep him from fulfilling it.

He concluded there was no side door and headed for the main one, stopping in front of the reception desk. The woman working there looked up from what she was doing and eyed the person in front of her. She took in the man's green hair, nice body and handsome face. She had never seen him before and wondered if the guy was there for the audition that would be held in a hour. She smiled at him and asked politely:

"Can I help you sir?"

"Hum...yeah. I'm here for a job interview"

"May I ask what kind of job, sir?" The attendant asked professionally.

"Stunt man" Zoro replayed simply.

The woman looked at him with a confused expression on her face. Stunt man? Were they holding job interviews for that? She hadn't heard anything from her boss about it.

"Can you wait a second sir, while I check something on the computer?"

"Sure, take your time". Zoro answered with a small smile.

The receptionist's heart leaped a beat. God, this man was sexy. How could they waste him as a stunt man? He should be in front of the cameras, not behind them!

She looked up the studio's schedule on the computer and found out she had been right; there were no stunt man job interviews being held that day. The man had probably gotten it wrong. She turned face him again.

"I'm sorry sir but-" She was in the middle of a sentence when she remembered something. "Did I ask your name already?

"Ah, no. I'm Zoro"

The woman slapped herself mentally for almost forgetting about such an important thing.

"Zoro Roronoa?"

The green haired man seemed a bit puzzled.

"Yeah... How did you know?"

Shit! She had almost screwed it up!What would she tell her boss if she had just sent him away?

She tried her best not to let him notice her despair.

"My boss, I mean, Mr. Monkey said you would be coming today. He...He told us to help you find your way inside the building..." She gulped.

Zoro looked suspicious for a few seconds then shrugged and gave in. What the lady said made sense, even though the way she said it sounded kinda weird.

"Ok"

The attendant sighed in relief.

"Here is your hum... number" She gave him a red button with the number 24. The swordsman looked at it in surprise. Somehow he had gotten under the impression he would be the only one being interviewed, but it seemed like there were at least 23 other people trying to get the job.

His attention went back to the woman as she stood up and told him to follow her.

"This way, Mr. Roronoa"

He nodded and went after her. They walked through a few hallways and Zoro was glad he had a guide. He hated to admit, but if he had been left alone in that place he would have never been able to find the room he was supposed to go to.

"We are here" The woman stopped in front of a door signaled with the number 12. "You have to stay in this room while you wait for your number to be called. When you hear you number, you go to the door on the opposite side of the room and walk down the small corridor until you reach another door. That's where the interview will take place. It's a red door, you can't miss it."

Zoro wasn't so sure about her last statement, but nodded anyway. He could always ask somebody's help if he got lost. He was entering the room when he remembered something that had been on his mind since he left home that morning.

"There's something I need to ask you"

The receptionist was already making her way back to the entrance hall when she heard him. She stopped on her tracks and turned to face him one last time.

"I don't really have a curriculum, cause I've never worked as a stunt man before..."

He saw as the woman smirked and waved a hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry about it. They aren't looking at curriculum today. They will just test your abilities and ask some questions. Anything else?"

"Na, that's all. Thanks"

"Break a leg."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

A few seconds later the woman disappear around the corner giggling like a teenage girl with too many secrets.

"Whatever" he sighed and went into the room.

***

Sanji was suspicious.

He had arrived at Grand Line studios an hour before Nami had asked him to come. He didn't want to be late and thought it would be better to deliver her food while it was still fresh from the oven.

As he reached the reception desk in the main hall of the building, he tried not to be bothered by all the stares he was receiving from the people around the room. It wasn't something new to him and he should have gotten used to it by now, but he still found it uncomfortable. It had happened quite a lot while he worked at Logue town and now he was starting to think it was something that show business people liked to do.

He smiled at the lovely lady that was seated behind the counter and bowed his head slightly in a greeting.

"Excuse me mademoiselle, but could you tell miss Mikan that Sanji is here with her food?"

The young girl jumped on her seat as she heard the blond's name.

She wouldn't mess anything up as she almost did with the green haired man. For the second time that day, she eyed the guy in front of her paying attention to every detail.

She had to admit her boss had a good eye for people.

The man standing by the counter was as good looking as the previous one had been, maybe even more so. He wasn't as buff, but he had really long legs that compensated for his lack of muscles. He seemed more delicate but still looked masculine in his own way. While Zoro had a wild style, this blond was more classic and elegant.

She was sure she would have been able to identify him as the one her boss talked about even if he hadn't already introduced himself. That's because Sanji Blackleg stood out easily from the crowd; he looked like a model, and a damn good looking one for that matter.

The attendant cleared her voice and spoke in a professional tone.

"I'm Sorry sir, but I can't get in touch with miss Mikan at the moment. She's attending an very important meeting that can't be interrupted."

"That's OK. It's my fault for coming here too early. I will wait outside for a while. Just tell her I'm here when she finishes her meeting"

"Do you want to wait inside of the building? It's very hot outside. You can go to one of our waiting rooms." She smiled gracefully at him.

"I'd love to, if you'd let me"

"Sure"

The receptionist took a yellow button from under her desk with a number 24 stamped on it and handed it to the blond. "This is your ID card inside this building. Wear it while you wait in case someone finds you wandering around so that they know you are allowed inside the building. If you don't, they might throw you out"

Sanji looked at the bright button laying on his hand. It didn't match his clothes in any way since he was wearing a purple shirt and black pants, but he decided to put it on despite it being an insult to his sense of fashion.

He could easily understand the need for an ID card. They were inside a studio full of famous people and it would be dangerous if anybody could just come in and walk around the place. What if the person was a stalker? Or a crazy fan?

The weird thing about it, was that the receptionist didn't ask his full name nor demanded prof of what he said before granting him access. If he had lied about his purpose inside of the building just to be able to get in, it would have been way too easy to break through security.

He just nodded and smiled though, keeping his thoughts to himself. The woman blushed in response and stood up willing to show him the way. He decided not to bother her with any of that since she was only doing her job and followed her to a door signaled with the number 13.

She turned to him once again before going back to her desk.

"I'll make sure they call your number through the speakers when Miss Mikan is available. You just have to go through the door on the opposite side the room and walk down the small corridor until you reach it's end. She'll be waiting for you in a room behind a red door, you can't miss it "

"Thank you very much mademoiselle"

She nodded and disappeared quickly down the hallway.

He turned to the door and opened it without hesitation. There was no point in just standing out there for an hour, he might as well just go in.

As he entered the room though, he found it hard not to be bothered. There were at least 20 other people there, and they were all guys about his own age give or take a few years. They were also mostly blonds, like himself, which made the whole scene kinda creepy.

He walked around the room taking a look at everyone's faces and searching for a vacant place to seat.

While he did that, he realized that there was a lot of tension in the air and that no one was talking. It seemed like they were all getting ready for a battle, nervousness and irritation stamped in each of their faces.

It was obvious now that the attendant had lied to him, and his heart broke just by thinking that such a lovely lady could trick him like that. The room wasn't a normal waiting room, there was something going on in there and he really didn't want to take part of it.

She most likely sent his to the wrong place accidentally, and would come back to pick him up at any second.

That was it, surely.

He would just have to wait and see.

***

Zoro wanted his swords.

He had tried everything he could not to go berserk an just strangle the man seating beside him, but his patience was growing shorter and shorter with every passing second and he wasn't sure how much more of that torture he could take without doing something about it.

What frustrated him though, was the feeling that even strangling the guy wouldn't be enough to shut his mouth. That's why he wanted his beloved swords, so that he could just slice the man's head off. He was pretty sure that disconnecting the head from the body would do the job.

A few minutes earlier, he had walked into the room and taken a sit on one of the couches, barely noticing the other occupants. He had found a comfortable spot and was about to take a nap when someone poked his arm. He opened his eyes to see who had done it.

"What?" He asked in a annoyed tone.

"Are you nervous?"

The person who had poked him was also seated on the couch and seemed to completely ignore the fact that Zoro showed no interest in engaging a conversation.

"No." He answered closing his eyes again and turning away from the man. The guy didn't get the hint and went on with his blabbing.

"N-not that I am. I'm a brave man who fears nothing"

Silence.

"So why did you choose to try out for this part? There are many others that would fit your image better and-"

"I'm not"

"Not what?"

"Trying out for anything"

"How come? Why are you even here then? And why do you have a number?

"Just shut up, will you?"

"But you have to answer, cause I have the very terrible if-you-don't-answer-my-questions-I'll-die disease!"

Zoro grunted.

"Come on! We are both in the same boat. Let's be friends!"

If looks could kill, Zoro would have turned into an assassin right at that moment.

He stared hard into the man's funny face and sighed. Luffy would have loved to meet this fellow.

The guy had a very long nose, curly brown hair and a skinny body. His mouth was big and his eyes were oval shaped. Zoro could easily see him and his best friend getting along not just because they both seemed unable to shut up, but also because of their childlike personalities. They were about the same age too.

Maybe if he talked to him for a bit he would leave him alone.

It worked with Luffy.

Sometimes.

"You won, Long-nose, I'm Zoro."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Usopp-WHO ARE YOU CALLING LONG-NOSE?!"

"Arg! For fuck's sake, get your voice down!"

"Ah, sorry."

"I'm here for a job interview."

"We all are. I'm here to see if I can get a part on the new movie staring Monkey D. Luffy!"

"Good for you. I just came after a stunt man job."

Ussop raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, you are are probably in the wrong place then, cause everyone else in this room is trying out for a role."

"Seriously?" Zoro looked around and saw that there were many other young man like himself and Usopp hanging around the place. They were mostly good looking people and they all seemed kinda nervous. He quickly understood his situation.

"Fuck! That woman led me to the wrong place! How am I supposed to find my way out of here and still get to my job interview on time?!"

"You can wait until they call your number and explain to them what happened. They should be able to show you the right direction."

"Hum..." he sighed "You are probably right. Fine, I'll stay."

"Cool, we can talk more then. Wanna hear about the time when I won a sumo tournament just by using my right hand?"

Zoro rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long wait.

***

2: 30 pm

That was the time registered on Sanji's watch.

Exactly half an hour later then the time Nami had asked him to deliver the food, and his name still hadn't been called through the speakers. The lovely attendant also hadn't come to pick him up.

Maybe he should just leave the food at the reception and come back to get his payment some other time.

He looked around the room and stopped his gaze at the door he was supposed to go through when his number got called. During the past 30 minutes, many of the blond boys that had been there with him went through it.

Sanji noticed during that time, that each of them possessed a yellow button just like the one he received from the receptionist. The "ID cards", as the woman had called it, had different numbers printed in them, starting from 1 up to 26. After the clock had hit 2:00 pm, the numbers started being called, and one at the time the men disappeared behind the same door the cook now had his eyes on.

"_Next, number 23. Number 23_"

He heard as the number before his own was called. He knew that if he just waited a few more minutes his would be next. Curiosity crept inside of him.

What was really behind that door? Would it be OK for him to follow the others? What if they found out he wasn't supposed to be there?

It hadn't been his fault, really, so he could just explain his situation and go home unharmed. What did he have to lose anyway?

"_Next, number 24. Number 24_"

By finally hearing his number, he realized just how curious he really was. He quickly made his decision and crossed the door into the small corridor. It was just like the receptionist had described, the bright red door on it's end was unmistakable.

_'It's too late to go back now' _He pushed the red handle and walked through the red portal without looking back.

***

"_Next, number 24. Number 24._"

At last, his turn.

About 10 minutes before, Usopp's number had been called and the boy had finally left Zoro to his own thoughts. The green haired man tried to take a quick nap, but somehow, after hearing the long-nosed man going on and on about some stupid story for the last hour, he wasn't sleepy anymore.

He had killed the following minutes by imagining creative ways of silencing permanently his newly acquired "friend", and even though that had been fun, he was glad that he finally had something else to do.

He stood up from his warm spot on the couch, and headed for the same door he saw Usopp use after his number got called. Behind it, he was glad to see, was a small corridor with a single red door on it's end that not even him could get lost into.

He reached the red portal and pushed it's handle stepping into a very well lit room. After taking a fast look around, he realized he was standing in some sort of stage, like the ones from theaters, but much smaller. This one was no bigger that a king sized bed and no higher than toilet bowl.

The second thing he noticed, was that he wasn't alone anymore. Standing on the other end of the stage close to the left wing, with a surprised expression on his face, stood no other then the pretty blond waiter he had met the previous day.

Zoro was pretty sure his name was Sanji. Or maybe George... Paul? It didn't matter, the kick he had received from the bastard still hurt and the fact they hadn't finished their fight the night before bothered him non stop.

He let a malicious smile spread on his face.

Thing were getting interesting...

***

_'What the hell is that fucker doing here?' _

Sanji asked himself mentally while trying to regain his lost composure.

At first, he hadn't recognized the man standing across the stage from him as the same one he fought at the restaurant the day before. It took him almost a whole minute of blank staring before realization hit him, and when it did, it came hard enough to turn his brain to mush.

To his credit though, any other person wouldn't even be able to establish a connection between the two man, much less knowledge them as the same person.

That's because the bastard looked _completely different_ then when they first met.

First of all, the guy smiling at him at the moment was **hot.**

He was a mass of tanned skin covering well defined muscles and hair that looked soft despite the fact it had been cut very short. His three golden earrings jiggled slightly every time he moved, and his dark eyes showed nothing but confidence.

Sanji couldn't just ignore all that and say the man wasn't attractive, even if it hurt his pride to admit it.

The second thing that kept him from promptly recognizing the guy, was the fact that he didn't have the ugly black bandanna tied to his head anymore. Because of that, it was possible to actually see the color of his hair, which, to Sanji's surprise, was no other that the same color of the grass he used to mow on the backyard of his old house.

That's right, same color as most plants that existed around the planet too.

He had fucking _green_ hair.

How did that bastard even dare to make fun of his curly eyebrow when he himself had grass growing out of top of his _head_?

_'You are so gonna pay for mocking me like that...'_

The third, and last thing, that made the man look like a completely different person were his clothes. Before he had looked like a bum and now looked...normal. He wasn't wearing anything special or expensive, just the average everyday outfit that everybody has on their closest; jeans and a white sleeveless shirt. Perfect for a warm day in LA.

No holes, no stains and no dirt. Simple and practical.

What pissed the cook off about it though, was the fact that the mosshead looked **good** on it.

Hell, he looked more than good, **fucking hot**.

_'Fuck._ _That just sounded very gay' _

Sanji Blackleg didn't drool over a guy like that, specially not one with green hair and a shitty attitude.

He closed his eyes in concentration.

_'Stop staring, start kicking butt. Yeah, that is it.'_

He just needed to beat the guy up and everything would be fine. Surely.

He was about to take a step closer to his target when a voice coming from somewhere to his left caught his attention. He hadn't noticed the presence of anyone in the room other than the stupid plant, and as he turned to look at whoever else was in there with them, he tried to ignore the fact that for a second time in less than 24 hours he had lost complete idea of his surroundings because of Zoro.

In front of them sat 3 man and 2 woman in a row of chairs forming a half moon shape around the stage. One woman and one man wore a black and a gray suits respectively and looked about 40 years old, while another couple, dressed more casually, seemed to be on their 30s. The last person, and the one seated closest to Zoro (much to his dismay), presented himself with a very colorful combination of garments contrasting greatly with the others. He had make up on too, which made it hard to guess his age.

Before the blond could say anything, someone spoke again. It was the same voice he had heard before, and it came from the suited man seated right in the middle of the semicircle. He seemed to be the one in charge of whatever was happening in the room.

He looked at the two sheets of paper on his hands while he spoke:

"So, you two must be number 24, Zoro Roronoa and Sanji Blackleg. Is that correct?"

Both Sanji and Zoro stared at people in front of them in confusion.

"Are you Mr. Roronoa and Mr. Blackleg or not?"

The man asked again and lifted his eyes to look at the stage.

"Yes" Sanji answered hesitantly while Zoro just nodded awkwardly.

"You shall begin your test now then. You two have 3 minutes to show us how you would portrait each of your chosen characters. You may choose to follow the scrip you received earlier, or to improvise."

The blond noticed that the man looked extremely bored, as if he had said that same speech uncountable times already. For some reason that made him nervous. He took a deep breath and focused on the older of the two woman who now spoke in a calm voice.

"We want to see the main aspects of the character's personality on your acting, so please think about what you are going to do and say beforehand. Make sure that it is something believable."

She smiled at them in a encouraging way and Sanji felt more at ease. Maybe that lady could help him understand what was going on. He decided to leave his questions for later and eyed the green haired man instead. He had been curious to know what the bastard was thinking about that whole situation and was surprised to see that Zoro looked very calm.

He simply stood there, with his hands on his pockets and no sign of discomfort despite being stared at by the five strangers seated in front of him. He seemed to feel Sanji's eyes on his face, because a second later he met the blond's gaze. The cook blinked a few times and broke their eye contact. He could swear he had seen a challenge on the man's eyes, daring him to run away from that stage before they had a chance to fight.

No way in hell he was going to do that though. That fucker was going feel the power of his legs and nothing anyone said would change that fact.

With that in mind, he was no longer nervous.

They _would_ fight again, and that was all that really mattered to him at that moment.

***

"Be sure to interact with your partner, you are not alone on stage, sweeties. We don't want monologues. This is supposed to be a partnership that will bring out all your potential for us to see. In fact these roles are very special and we need special actors to play them. "

The weirdly dressed man seated right in front of Zoro added and winked at him.

_'Creep'_ The swordsman worked hard to suppress a shiver.

"You may begin at any time now" Someone finished the speech and was followed by complete silence.

So what Usopp had said was true, he was really in the middle of some sort of audition.

_'What a pain'_ Zoro rubbed the back of his head _'Might as well get things cleared up so that Blondie and I can carry on with our match' _

He was about to talk to the suited man when a thought ivaded his mind and made him stop. He didn't particularly care about the audition or his job interview anymore, but if Sanji was there it meant he was actually trying out for a role.

_'Wasn't he a cook?'_

He would have to wait until all that shit was finished before they could fight properly, and that could take hours.

'_Damn_.'

There was no other way though. He couldn't just spoil the cook's chance of winning a part in the movie because of his impatience, after all, it was partially his fault that Sanji had lost his job in the first place.

_'Tche, can't be helped...'_

The silence lasted 2 more minutes before he decided to break it. Better act than think, that's what he always said.

"Hey curlybrow, bring your skinny ass over here"

Zoro said while signaling with his hand for the blond to approach him. He couldn't think of anything else to do other that directly ask Sanji what he thought they should do.

He saw as Sanji's face turned a interesting tone of red.

"Don't you dare call me that again you stupid mosshead!"

The blond snarled and moved a little closer to him. For some reason he looked more pissed than Zoro intended to make him. Maybe he should go a little easi-

Had he just been called _m__osshead_?

"What the fuck did you just call me you prick?!"

"A _mosshead_! Actually, maybe _Neanderthal_ would be more appropriate." The blond added grinning.

What with that smug expression on his face? He had just wanted to work things out with him so that they could get out of there without making everything a mess.

He was even trying to be nice to the fucker!

Zoro looked at their spectators and saw that they had their eyes glued on them, watching their every move. His gaze stopped on the man wearing make up. He had a big smile on his face that seemed to be lit up in excitement.

_'What a freak.._.'

A fast movement on the corner of his vision warned him of an attack that was coming his way. He dodged the kick and turned to face his aggressor. Sanji was much closer to him now, and Zoro could clearly see he no longer smiled.

"You should look at me when I'm talking to you, that's just the polite thing to do you know? I guess I'll have to teach you some manners." The blond said in a lecture tone while preparing to launch another attack.

If he kept attacking him like that, Zoro would have no choice but to join the party. He examined the blond's face once again and smirked.

He didn't look very concerned about flunking the audition. In fact, Sanji didn't seemed to care _at all_ about his surroundings. He acted as if they were alone.

And that was just fine with him.

If Blondie wanted a fight, he would get a fight.

Zoro wasn't about to complain.

***

Bon watched in awe as the two gorgeous looking man on stage tried to kill each other.

Or so it looked.

If he hadn't known they were just actors playing their parts, he would have been very worried.

He could tell just by watching that those were very dangerous moves being performed. A kick from that blond could very easily break some bones as well as any of the green haired man's punches. The whole thing was so impressive that he couldn't even blink for fear of loosing even a second of that amazing scene. They fought as if dancing, very fluidly. It was beautiful and deadly.

It looked as if the blond had a upper hand, but that was hard to tell. Not many attacks landed on their targets and none of the man looked hurt or tired.

He hadn't been that excited by watching any of the other pairs perform (even though the one with the long-nosed man had been quite entertaining). He could feel the tension exhaling from their bodies, capturing his senses, drawing him in, and that wasn't all.

Their expressions were great.

They looked more alive than any of the other candidates, a mixture of annoyance and happiness, joy and anger, and it was clear that they _loved to fight_. Every part of it, the thrill, the danger, and the dispute for dominance. Everything!

It was just like what he had imagined when he wrote the script, better actually.

They were friends yet rivals. Comrades who couldn't stand each other but would give their lives for one another.

He wanted them. He _needed_ them.

And he would make them _his_.

***

"Time's up"

Sanji stopped mid-attack and turned to face their spectators. He had been slightly aware of their presence while fighting Zoro. He thought they would try to stop them, and had decided that if they did, he would just kick them out of his way. They didn't though, which he found strange. Even weirder than that was the fact that they just stood there in silence, as if seeing two man try to kill each other was a normal day-by-day event. An image from the previous night at the restaurant flashed through his mind and he remembered all the cheering and yelling that his fight with the mosshead had caused then.

Something was definitively wrong with these people.

A thought started forming on his head. They had said something about roles and characters hadn't they? They had also wanted him to work together with the stupid Neanderthal, as partners.

And he was in a studio.

A well known, top of the entertainment industry, movie making studio, for fuck's sake!

How much more obvious could it get?

_'I'm in the middle of a fucking audition!' _

He looked at the green haired man searching for anything that gave away an attempt to mock his stupidity. He finally understood why the bastard had been so calm since the beginning.

_'You fucking knew about all this didn't you?'_

Zoro just blinked in response, a bit confused by the unspoken question. He had no clue about what Sanji was trying to say, so he just ignored him and turned to look at the suited man who was now speaking to them.

"Thank you very much for your presentation. We ask you to wait a few minutes in the room next door until we finish with the last candidates and choose who will play each role in the movie. We'll call you on the speakers when we have the results. Good luck for both of you."

Sanji didn't even have a chance to say anything before he and Zoro were kicked out of the room and led into a different one down the hall.

Now that he knew what to expect, he wasn't surprised to see again the same blond guys he first met on the other room sitting around the place together with 20 other non-blond guys that he had never seen before. Zoro seemed to know them though, since he nodded at one who waved enthusiastically at him as soon as he stepped into the room.

He didn't pay much attention when the two man engaged in a conversation or about the fact that the green haired man seemed to have forgotten he was still there, he was too tired for any of that. All his energy had been drained from his body the moment he realized his stupidity, and he didn't feel like doing anything else at the moment other then fall in one of the couches and close his eyes for a while.

He felt so dumb for not figuring out what was going on sooner, that he didn't care about not being able to finish his fight with Zoro.

'_For now at least_'

He rubbed his eyes with his hands and let them fall limp on his sides. To help him relax, he hummed one of his favorite songs, the one he always listened at home when he wanted to sleep but couldn't.

He wasn't waiting for the results of the audition, he wasn't even interested in being a actor in the first place.

He just wanted to lay there for a while.

And so he did.

***

Zoro had been trying to remember his plans to make Usopp shut up for a few minutes when the sight of a certain blond cook caught his attention. He looked tired and all his fighting spirit seemed to have evaporated during the course of the last 10 minutes, which was odd.

Sanji had been the main reason why he had allowed himself to be led out of the stage and locked in the place they was currently staying at. He thought that by doing that, they would have a chance to finish their duel once and for all, without being interrupted.

The other reason was related to the fact that he needed someone to show him the way out or he would end up getting lost after the first 5 steps, though he would never admit it. He preferred to stick with the first one.

He thought about provoking Sanji again so that they could finish what they had started, but the expression on the cook's face while he laid on the couch made him stop. It was calm and innocent, different from all the others he had seen on Sanji's face until then. He found out he liked that one even more then the ones the blond wore during their fights.

When Usopp stopped talking for a moment (so that he could breath) and the swordsman was, once again, able to hear his own thoughts, a faint melody reached his ears. It was soft and slow, and he immediately recognized the song. It was one of his favorites, one he had liked since he was a kid.

Before he could tell where it was coming from, the door of the room burst open and Luffy came inside of the room causing the chattering that was already present to get much louder.

It was then that Zoro understood just how different his best friend really was:

He was _famous_. More than he had ever given him credit for.

Luffy smiled openly when their eyes met and he didn't even have a chance to answer Usopp's questioning look about his obvious relationship with the young star before the same came crashing on him sending both of them to the ground. He stood up using the couch as support, and lowered his gaze to look at his friend's grinning face. Luffy hugged him harder and spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear:

"You did it Zoro! I knew you would!"

The green haired man gave him a puzzled look.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Sanji! You both passed it!" The boy could barely contain his enthusiasm.

"We passed? Passed what?"

Luffy frowned at his friend's foolishness. Sometimes the swordsman could be really slow. He smiled again squeezed Zoro harder. He was so happy that nothing the other man said or did would affect his current mood.

He released Zoro from his bear hug, stood up and picked his nose with his pinky while grinnig madly at his best friend.

"The audition, what else?"

* * *

**Thanks for all your reviews! Please keep them coming cause that's what motivates me to write =)**

**I Wish you all a Happy new year!**

**See you soon (hopefully) ;***


	4. Stage 4 Behind the curtains

Stage 4: Behind the curtains

"I passed?"

Zoro heard his thoughts before he had a chance to voice them. He turned to look at the person who had spoken and his dark eyes found blue ones that didn't return his glance. Instead, they were fixated on the dark haired teen that stood in front of him picking his nose.

The blond looked confused, and that too, Zoro could relate to. They had passed the audition... _How?_

He couldn't summon any explanation to that fact. While fighting Sanji, he could easily tell that the cook wasn't representing. He was only being his sissy self, no actual acting involved.

And HE certainly hadn't done anything to pass the audition. As a matter of fact, he had been sure that fighting in the middle of it would automatically disqualify him.

No such a luck, apparently.

What was he supposed to do now? One look at Sanji's face and he could tell the blond shared his thoughts. He decided to focus his attention on Luffy, whom ('_hell has frozen over'_) seemed to be the only person to know what was going on. His friend was about to say something when once again the door burst open and caught his attention.

He took in the woman's long legs and tight clothes as well as her mysterious blue eyes, and quickly recognized her as the scary lady from the previous night. A bell rang on his head bringing back his conversation with Luffy from the night before, and the same question that bugged him all night came back with full force:

_'What the fuck does she have to do with all this shit?'_

She seemed to know about his thoughts, because a second later her knowing eyes smiled and she spoke in a calm voice:

"I'll answer your questions when the right time comes, but first, let's move to a more private place, shall we?"

Zoro noticed that she didn't speak only to him, but to Sanji as well. He saw as the blond stood up and tried to chase away the remaining sleepiness out of his system. He stretched his arms over his head, and ran a hand through his hair as if to comb it. Taking a few steps in the direction of the door, the cook reached out for the woman's hand and kissed it.

"I'll go wherever you want to take me, my Cherie"

She just smiled at him and looked at Zoro.

"Can I count on your presence too, Mr. Roronoa?"

The green haired man took one look at the curious faces of the many young man scattered around the place and made up his mind.

"Sure, whatever."

* * *

They followed Robin (he remembered her name from their first meeting) out of the room and into a smaller but fancier place. It was obviously somebody's private office, with a large wooden desk on it's center and comfortable leather chairs strategically placed. The other pieces of furniture were beautiful as well, matching the room perfectly. A big window took most of the wall behind the desk and sophisticated paintings covered the remaining surfaces. A black laptop lay on top of the table and the air conditioner seemed to be working at full force.

They observed the room while the raven made her way behind the desk and sat. She smiled and gestured for them to take a seat as well.

The did as they were told, and a few moments later more people entered the office. Luffy strode in together with the strange looking man from audition. They talked laudly to each other as they made their way to a small couch located on the left side of the room. The two man sat down and faced Robin, much like Sanji and Zoro were doing.

"I found Bon on the way here and he said he wanted to come too, so I brought him." Luffy said and grinned.

"That's fine, I was about to call him anyway." the woman said while eying the man seated beside Luffy.

"It's good to see you Bon. I've heard that you enjoyed their presentation quite bit."

"Oh, yes, I liked it very much indeed. It was marvelous! So full of power and energy! I've wanted to talk to them about it since I saw it." Bon answered the comment while crossing his legs in what was an attempt to look sexy.

"Great" She looked at the two man in front of her once again. "This is Bon Clay. He's the director of the movie you were trying out for."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, dearies. I hope you can show me something even better on the second part of the audition" The weird man said happily and winked at them.

On the 10 minutes that followed, Sanji and Zoro went from mildly confused to a complete '_WTF?'_ state.

Robin explained that after she saw their fight on Logue town, she had been very interested in them. It turned out that the EX-supermodel Robin Nico was now a new producer who worked for Alabasta Inc., an extremely well known entertainment company responsible for about 40% of the movies currently on the market. Robin was also in charge of Grand line Studios, one of many owned by Alabasta Inc.

"I'm glad you two could make it today. We were having a hard time finding the right actors and that's precisely why we decided to hold an audition. You two fitted the role's image perfectly, and I had to do everything in my power to get you to try out. "

Bon nodded and added happily:

"And I have to say, you boys did great! I loved how you shaped your characters based on the script and came up with an original interpretation. Very professional an-"

"W-wait" Asked Sanji in a faint voice while he tried to get his head to stop spinning.

The guy thought that what they did on stage was some sort of act... It wasn't, though. At least not on his part. He had just wanted to smash Zoro's head, nothing else. He wasn't sure about the green haired man though. Maybe he did take the thing seriously and was just acting his part.

_'Not possible. No way in hell that Mosshead can act like that, just__** not**__ possible."_

Which meant they were really just trying to kill each other.

He was about to explain that to the man called Bon, when a warning look from the black haired woman made him change his mind. She was beautiful and all, but she could be scary as hell. He decided to take a more subtle approach.

"I understand what you are saying about the audition." He gulped and searched for Robin eyes, making sure she allowed him to talk before continuing. " You were having a hard time finding the right actors and wanted us to try out" '_Even if it was against our will...' _He added mentally.

He was now well aware of the fact that he had been fooled right from the beginning. It felt just...wrong. As if he had fallen right in the middle of a big plan, which was probably true. He suspected that Nami had something to do with it too, after all, he would have to be really dumb to believe it had all been just a huge coincidence.

"...What I don't understand, is the reason why you didn't say anything yesterday. I mean, you could have asked us directly about taking part in the movie without having to -" He was about to say 'deceive us' but his good manners kept him from being rude to a woman. Instead, he said: "invite us over today".

"I wish I could have done that too, but it was just not possible. I am responsible for this project, but it's not like I can make all decisions by myself. Mr. Clay here, for example, has to approve of my ideas before I can use them, and he's not the only one. All those people you saw at the audition today have a say on this matter, and I would never be able to ignore their opinions. You would have to take part in the audition one way or another."

_'Still doesn't explain why you didn't simply tell us about this whole thing and let us choose whether to come or not...' _Sanji sighed. He was getting tired of that game. He wasn't getting any of the answers he wanted and it looked like Robin wouldn't let him ask much more. He decided to try one last time but was interrupted by a rough voice coming from his left.

"Can we just cut the crap and get straight to the point?" The green haired man ran a hand through his hair and moved uncomfortably on his chair. He looked bored out of his mind. Sanji frowned at the his lack of manners. No matter how annoyed he might be, it was no excuse to treat a lady like that.

"So you are saying that dragged us here-" He eyed Luffy who just stared back at him and blinked a few times, not demonstrating any sign of guilt "-and that you want us to go on with the audition despite the fact that we didn't have much of a choice about taking part of it in the first place?" Zoro finished the sentence staring hard into Robin's eyes. His expression was neutral but one could easily sense he was pissed.

Sanji felt a shiver run up his spine when a smile appeared in the corner of the raven's mouth. She crossed her arms over her breast and answered him in a very imposing voice:

"That's exactly what I want you to do"

"Hum, I'm sorry, but I think I lost something here. What was that about not having a choice?" Asked Bon with a puzzled look on his face. His make up was so outrageous that it made him look all the more comical in that situation.

The blond noticed then that 'Bon Clay' looked positively confused about their conversation and held back a laugh. He imagined that the man had no idea about the fact that he and Zoro hadn't been acting during their presentation and that the only reason they were there at the moment was because Robin tricked them into it. It occurred to him that was probably the reason why she didn't want to discuss the matter in detail; it would kill her purpose of getting them to take part in the movie if the director found out they weren't actually actors to begin with.

Both Robin and Zoro decided to ignore the man and went on with their conversation.

"The only thing I'm asking you to do is to finish auditioning. You'll be free to go if you really don't want to, but I think it's a good opportunity. The second part of the selection process will happen tomorrow afternoon, with the few people that were selected throughout today's audition. You'll just have to do a group reading of two of the scenes that are on the script together with the already selected cast. The ones who can best mingle with the other actors will get the roles."

She reached for one of the desk's drawers, opened it, and grabbed two small stacks of paper held together by staples.

"These are the scripts" She put one stack in front of each of the two young man "It's your choice to show up tomorrow, but I recommend you to think about it seriously. It might not be what you were looking for, but I can assure you that this job pays much better then being a stunt man..." Her eyes went from the green haired man to the blond "Or a waiter."

Silence fallowed her remark for what felt like more then a minute, only to be broken by a loud yawn coming from the small couch where Luffy and Bon sat. The raven boy had been abnormally silent during the whole exchange and, apparently, that made him sleepy. He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and relaxed on the couch once again, unaware of the fact that he had just broken all the tension in the room with his actions.

Sanji woke up from his trance and said:

"Well, you just want us to take part of a second audition then?"

Sanji took a calming breath and focused on what he was trying to say. "I'll... think about it."

That being said, he started looking for a cigarette. That whole business was wearing him out and he needed something to get him through the conversation. He hated to disappoint such a beautiful lady, but what she was saying simply made no sense. He wasn't an actor, and he honestly had no intention of becoming one. He was sure it wasn't as simple as just showing up to an audition. He would have to, at least, know what he was doing before accepting such a job, and he didn't. His eyes wandered around the room and settled on the green haired man seated by his side. To his comfort, the other man looked as awkward about the situation as he felt.

He was startled when Zoro stood up abruptly and spoke barely loud enough to be heard:

"I need to talk to Luffy for a minute" He marched to where the black haired boy sat and grabbed his upper arm, urging him to his feet. The said boy looked confused for a moment but quickly understood from his friend's face that the question wasn't up for discussion. He nodded and followed Zoro out of the room.

Sanji just stared at the door without blinking for a few seconds. What was he supposed to do now? He looked at Robin, who's eyes were also glued to the door. She had a mysterious expression on her face, something that felt almost like... _Victory._

_

* * *

_

Zoro walked fast through the hallways without really paying attention to where he was going. He would end up getting lost on his way back anyway, might as well spare the time trying memorize the route and just go with his instincts.

_'I just want a fucking empty room, dammit!' _He thought as he passed the third locked door in a row.

He could hear Luffy's loud footsteps following him and his mind went back to what he wanted to talk to the boy about. The conversation in the room reminded him of what had had happened many times during their school years. He knew that if he didn't do something soon, history was bound to repeat itself again.

And he didn't want that to happen. At all.

They turned another corner and found themselves in a small and empty waiting room attached to the corridor. It wasn't a closed space, like the room they had just left. Anyone would be able to spot them easily, but it didn't really matter. He just wanted a place where he and Luffy could talk without having people staring at them and listening to their every word.

The place had 3 sofas disposed around the walls and a low glass table in between them. Many magazines were disposed on top of the table and, on the opposite side to the couches, was a soda machine. Zoro took a seat on one of the comfortable lounges and rubbed his face with his hands. He was tired and he wanted to get all that over with as soon as possible so that he could go home. He rested his hands on his knees and stared at his friend who was still standing in hallway.

Luffy looked a bit confused, but otherwise normal. It hit Zoro that he almost never saw the boy looking guilty or afraid of anything, which was something the green haired man highly admired about his friend. Though, that ability could be a problem when he was trying to decipher something through the boy's behavior, much like he was doing at the present moment.

He gave up on it after Luffy simply turned his back to him and made his way to the vending machine, dropping a coin at the assigned place and pressing the button with the "Coke" symbol. He saw as the raven grabbed the beverage and made his way to the glass table, sitting on it Indian style. Luffy waited for him to say something. Zoro cleared his voice and asked:

"Did you know about this...plan...right from the beginning?"

Luffy opened the can and blinked twice at the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Were you lying about the stunt man job offer? I mean, did you just want me to come here and take part of the audition?"

The boy seated in front of him furrowed his brows while a small pout formed on his lips.

"I wasn't lying."

"How so?"

Zoro was starting to feel irritated again. He had to put a great deal of effort to keep from yelling angrily at Robin a few minutes before, and if Luffy started giving him half-assed answers he wasn't sure he would be able to hold his temper much longer.

"I was telling the truth about the offer. The studio is really looking for more stunt man right now, I'm just not sure if there are any interviews for it today... Robin told me to call you yesterday and convince you to come today, and that all I did."

"Did you know her from before? Before the restaurant?"

"Nope" Luffy sipped a bit of his coke and eyed his friend, a small smile appearing on his mouth. "She didn't explain anything to me yesterday either. I just found out about this audition today. I didn't even know she was the producer of the movie."

"Oh, right. You are taking part in this movie... I almost forgot.." He sighed and his expression softened. He just couldn't stay mad at Luffy for long. "Well then,-" a tiny smile formed on his lips "-did you simply agree with the idea of dragging me into this, against my will, once you found out about her plans?"

"Yep" Luffy grinned "that's pretty much it"

"What a friend you are..." The green haired man fell back on the couch and relaxed the muscles he hadn't noticed were tense. " You are not getting your way this time, you hear? I'm NOT gonna fall into one of your traps like I did when we were younger."

"What are you talking about?" The raven's smile grew larger and he sipped his Coke again.

"Tch...You bastard."

Luffy laughed heartedly and Zoro remembered how much he missed the boy's laugh.

"What's this movie about, anyway? Nobody told me anything, they just threw me on stage and that was that."

His friend's eyes glowed with enthusiasm. It was obvious that the boy really liked to talk about that particular topic.

"It's amazing! I'm playing a pirate Zoro! Just like how we used to play when we were kids! Do you remember?" Zoro nodded and the boy went on with his talking. "And the story happens in a different world where there are pirates everywhere. It's so cool! There are fights, and treasures and monsters, and..."

It was now Zoro's turn to laugh. It was just so funny to see how excited Luffy looked while he talked that he couldn't stay quiet anymore. That was the main reason why Zoro allowed Luffy to work as an actor; The boy really loved it.

"You seem to like this role a lot, don't yo-"

"I want you to be in it too!"

The swordsman stopped laughing and stared at his friend. Luffy's eyes now had a different glint on them; they showed not only excitement, but also determination. Zoro knew that look all too well...It meant that nothing would stop his friend from getting what he wanted.

_'Shit' _

He was definitively screwed.

That didn't mean he wouldn't fight till the end though.

He closed his eyes and threw his head back, resting it on the couch. His brain was trying to come up with a solution without much success .

"You know very well I'm not interested in being an actor" He said slowly.

Zoro wasn't sure how many times they had had that conversation but, somehow, it always ended the same way.

And Luffy usually got what he wanted.

_'Fuck'_

He heard the sound on metal coming in contact with glass and wondered why Luffy had put down his soda. The answer came when something heavy landed on his knees and he felt the unmistakable warmth only provided by body contact. He opened his eyes and saw that Luffy's arms rested on each side of his head while the boy straddled him. Their bodies were very close and he could feel the raven's breath on his skin. His hands automatically went to the boys waist and he lifted his eyes to meet Luffy's.

"What now?"

He asked while tilting his head slightly. The boy on his lap pouted visibly making it look like he was a 5 years old.

"You should really try it, Zoro... It's Fun!"

"Don't want to"

"Think about the old times! Wasn't it fun? It's not like acting will interfere with your dreams either... You can still improve. I can even introduce you to some really strong fighters. There are lots of them who work for movies and stuff. I'm sure you will think so too when you meet them!"

"Still no."

"Didn't you want to meet Mihawk?"

At that Zoro's body stiffened.

"You might get that chance..." Luffy added in a playful voice.

Zoro relaxed and let his gaze wander over the raven's face. He grunted and gave up.

"You are playing dirty, you know that?"

Luffy's grin widened and he laughed briefly.

"Just do it in name of the old times, ok?"

"Old times, hum?"

Zoro snickered and grabbed the boy's head in a fluid motion, bringing Luffy's lips to meet his own.

* * *

Sanji closed the door behind him and sighed in relief. He had spent the previous 10 minutes answering to all sorts of unwelcome questions, ranging from his childhood nicknames to his sexual preference. The so acclaimed "director"seemed to be incapable of taking a subtle hint, so the cook had had to come up with a good excuse to get out of the room.

Saying he needed to go to the bathroom did the trick, and now he found himself standing in the hallway without much of an idea of what to do next. Since he didn't actually need to go to the toilet, he decided to look for a water fountain or somewhere he could get drink. He was very thirsty due to all the fighting and arguing he had done that day.

It took him about 5 minutes to find the closest water fountain which was conveniently located close to the restroom. He decided then to wash his face and fix his hair. Using the sink reminded him that he still needed to find a plumber or he would have to sleep at Gin's that night.

_'If I could at least get out of here...'_

Upon leaving the toilet, Sanji decided it was time to go home. He was already making his way back to the office when voices coming from somewhere close reached his ears. The hallways were mostly empty and silent, so much that listening to those voices felt weird.

Without even taking time to think about what he was doing, the blond followed the voices to the opposite direction from where he came. The voices were much louder now and he could understand a few words. He peeked from behind the corner and saw a few couches, a vending machine and a glass table. He quickly noticed the 2 people inside the small waiting room as well, and it didn't take him long to recognize them.

Luffy sat on top of the glass table while the green haired man, known as Zoro, sat in front of him on the couch. They seemed to be talking about something serious at first, but then a few laughs reached the blond's ears and he wondered about that. His eyes examined both men's features and he was surprised to see the green haired man smile. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it happen before, just this time it was... different. It wasn't a cruel smile nor a sarcastic one. In fact, it had a very kind feeling to it.

_'Who would imagine that stupid moss head could smile like that...'_

It struck him then that he was doing something really rude. Peeking into other people's business was not something he considered a proper behavior.

_'It's time to go'_

He was half-way through the movement of turning his back to the scene, when something he saw with his peripheral vision made him stop. Before he noticed, he was once again looking at the small waiting room and the two man within it.

Who happened to be disturbingly close to each other now. _Too_ close.

Sanji blinked a few times while he took in the whole scene. Luffy had put down his soda and was now straddling Zoro. Oddly enough, Zoro didn't seem to mind it one bit. The two resumed their talking once again but something about their obvious intimacy made the cook uncomfortable. Worse yet, he didn't seem to be able to take his eyes _off_ them.

He watched as the two man talked, but his attention wasn't on their words.

He couldn't help but to notice the way the green haired man's hands rested on the raven's waist, in a simple but very intimate way. And how Luffy's hands started to play with Zoro's short green hair while they talked, coming to rest around the man's neck. How their breathings were somehow matched, and how they looked very comfortable despite being so close in such a hot weather.

Sanji felt his ears hot and wondered why such innocent actions made him feel so embarrassed. They weren't doing anything abnormal or indecent.

_'They aren't even kissing...'_

As if on a cue, the green haired man grabbed the raven's head and lowered it to his own.

Sanji froze.

He saw as if in slow motion when Luffy closed his eyes letting his lips meet Zoro's without any type of resistance. His hands tightened around the green hair, and he pressed their bodies closer together. Zoro's hand that rested on Luffy's waist started caressing the boy's side while the other one tilted the boy's head to get a better angle for their kiss. Zoro's mouth parted and he licked Luffy's lip, asking for permission. The boy moaned and granted it.

Sanji's head was spinning now. What exactly was happening there? Did_ that_ mean they were lovers? If yes, did it mean that they were...gay?

_'No, that's not it... I never heard anything about Luffy being gay. That Neanderthal certainly doesn't look like one either.' _

So what on earth was going on? Were they acting? He peeked once again and was faced with a very flushed Luffy and a horny looking Zoro.

_'Nope, they are definitively not acting.' _

He shouldn't be looking. What they did or didn't do was none of his concern. So what if they were lovers? It wouldn't affect his life in any way. He wouldn't say anything to anybody about it either. He wasn't a paparazzi and he already liked Luffy enough to feel the need to protect the boy. He was well aware that the media would pay a fortune for that kind of scoop.

_'I better leave them alone' _

But it was so fucking hard to _move_! Their moans filled his ears and he yearned to see what they were doing.

_'God, I'm such a pervert...'_

No! That wasn't right! He should leave now and go back to the room where the lovely Robin still waited for him.

_'Maybe just one last peek...'_

"What are you doing standing here like that?"

He froze imagining that they had finally noticed his presence and were about to take satisfaction on why he was spying on them. The lack of action on their part though, made him realize they weren't the ones who talked (They were still very much engrossed in their make out session).That and the fact that the voice sounded way too girly to be theirs.

He gave his back to the two man and faced the person who had spoken. An overall observation informed him that the person was indeed a woman, with short red hair, long legs and big boobs. His heart fluttered at the sight of his beloved angel. She looked at him with a curious expression on her face and waited for his explanation. The thought of explaining what he was doing reminded him that any noise on their part would alert the two man of their presence there, so he stayed quiet and motioned for her to do the same by touching his forefinger to his lips.

She lifted a questioning eyebrow and took a step forward, brushing past him to do the same thing he had been doing before she came. Her eyes grew big and she turned to face him again with a stunned look on her face. She pointed at the scene hidden behind the corner and frowned at him in a silent question.

_'WTF are they doing?'_

Sanji shook his head and shrugged.

_'How would I know?'_

Nami sighed and before the blond had a chance to stop her, she walked around the corner and halted in front the two figures on the couch. They noticed her presence and broke apart. Zoro gave her an annoyed look and asked in a very rude tone:

"What?"

Sanji saw as the redhead crossed her arms in front of her breast and swung all her weight over to one leg in a intimidating pose. She ignored the man's question and eyed Luffy, who didn't look at all bothered to be caught in such a compromising situation.

"Luffy, shouldn't you be at a meeting?"

The raven blinked and answered.

"I am. We just stepped outside for a moment to chat"

"Right..." Nami grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, cat style, and pulled him out of Zoro's lap.

"It's time to go back then"

Luffy pouted and whined. "Ah~ Nami! That meeting was boring~ .Besides, I've already convinced Zoro to come to the second round of the audition tomorrow."

Nami lifted a questioning brow at that. "Oh, really?"

The boy smiled and replied "Yeah!"

"No" Zoro cut into the conversation giving Luffy a censuring look.

The raven ignored his friend and talked to Nami.

"He'll come for sure!"

Zoro groaned in irritation.

"Anyway, you better go back now." She turned to the green haired man and added "And you"

She walked a few steps back into the hallway and spoke a little louder. "And you too, Mr. Blackleg"

Sanji, who was hiding behind the wall, bit back a curse against the woman. He stepped into their field of vision and tried to avoid their eyes, concentrating his attention in a particular stain of dirt on one of the couches.

"Sanji!" Luffy exclaimed in a excited tone."You are coming tomorrow too, right?"

"Y-yeah." the blond replied, still eying the stain intently.

"Awesome! Let's go tell Robin and Bon then!" The boy said happily and made his way out of the room, completely unaffected by the stares he was receiving from the others occupants.

Nami sighed and started to follow Luffy.

Zoro stood up from the couch, scratched the back his head and brushed past Sanji throwing the blond a weird look before going after Nami.

Sanji stood where he was for a moment before making his way through the well lit hallway after the others.

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**Sorry for the long time without posting, and for the short chapter. It was actually twice this size and I decided to devide it into 2 chapters instead of one.**

**For those who are mad at me because of the ZoLu pairing, it won't last. Don't worry, this is a ZoSan fic after all =3**

**Their relationship will be better explained in later chapters, so just wait ^^**

**Something important now: I'm looking for a beta since it takes me too long to fix my own mistakes after I finish writing the chapters (and I get too tired to do it). Also, since English is my second language I still can't fix everything (such as pronouns XP)**

**I already have the next chapter written, so I'll see if I can post it next week.**

**See you all later =***

**Enjoy!**

**ps: Thanks for the favs and the reviews! Specially the reviews. Keep them coming !**


	5. Stage 5 Stage fright

**Chapter 5: Stage Fright**

As he stepped into the cool living room of his apartment, Zoro felt relieved. For once, he didn't get lost on his way back (only taking _one_ wrong turn), thus being able to get home earlier than expected. He dropped his keys and a stack of paper on the kitchen counter and undressed. He got rid of his sticky shirt by throwing it on top of a huge pile of dirty clothes randomly placed on the floor and sniffed his armpits. He stank. Even though it was already past four, it was too damn hot outside and he needed to shower badly.

He went to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water and after that he headed to his room, only stopping briefly by a door before doing so. He knocked twice on the door and yelled before there was any answer from the other side, "I'm home!"

That was a very important thing he'd learned to do while living with two other guys:_ to make his presence known. _If he didn't, he was doomed.

Zoro hated bumping into naked people in the hallways and having to listening to shitty music while he tried to concentrate on his training. He'd found out though (after enough suffering) that he could avoid all that by simply letting his roommates know that he was in the vicinity. Which, by the way, was the only reason he still lived with those two.

He took a quick shower, put on some underwear and dropped onto his bed. Sleep came half a minute later and when he finally woke up it was already dark outside. He glanced at his alarm clock by the bed and saw that it was ten past seven. He got up, stretching in the process, and finished dressing up. Another thing he learned to do while living with two gay friends was to never walk around _naked_ or _partially naked. _

He left the room and headed for the kitchen once again, this time looking for something more filling then just water. Upon entering the room, he quickly spotted someone by the oven and turned to see who it was. Johnny stood there cooking something yellow colored, while wearing only a pair of boxers. He noticed Zoro's presence and spoke from over his shoulder.

"How was the job interview, bro?"

The green haired man only shrugged while opening the fridge and looking for something to eat. There was only canned food and some odd smelling stuff that Zoro was sure could kill a person if ingested by mistake.

That was the third thing he learned _not_ to do since he moved in with Johnny and Yosaku: Never, _ever_, eat the suspicious stuff in the fridge.

After searching a bit longer he found a respectable looking piece of bread (with just a few green spots) and a piece of cheese (that he knew was still good since he had been the one to buy it a couple of days before). He placed them on the counter and grabbed a knife. He was cutting a piece of cheese when Johnny spoke again:

"Are you still looking for a job, then?"

Zoro thought for a moment before answering the question. He supposed he was. It was true that he had agreed to go to the second part of the audition (due to some intense persuasion on Luffy's part), but that didn't mean that he was employed again. He didn't even know if he wanted to be employed by a movie company.

_'Heck, I don't even want to be an actor...' _

There was still the chance that he would flunk the test too. So, yeah, he was still looking for a job.

"Yeah," he replied as a bad smell reached his nostrils. "There's something burning, by the way."

He heard a panicked scream and some cursing from the man on the opposite side of the room and decided to go see what had happened. The closer he got to the oven, the stronger it smelled, making him cover his nose and breathe through his mouth. He reached Johnny, who was now trying to release some yellow and black substance from the bottom of the pan with a spoon and placing it on a plate.

"What was that supposed to be?" Zoro asked while pointing to the curious material on the plate.

Johnny frowned and answered in a irritated tone:

"Instant noodles."

Zoro eyed the yellow and black stuff once again and laughed. "How the fuck did you manage to burn instant noodles?"

"Shut up! I was just following the recipe on the back of the box and it turned out like this!"

Zoro noticed the box by the oven a grabbed it. The instructions were simple enough: Add hot water and stir for five minutes. It was indeed a mystery how his friend had manged to mess that up. He was sure that even _he_ could do it properly, and that was saying something. He was an absolute failure at cooking.

The thought of good food summoned the image of a certain blond cook to his mind. Before he could stop himself, he was wondering how good it would be to live with someone that knew how to cook and looked that good...

Zoro was never into men that much, but he did admit when a hot one came along. Most people would say he was bi, but he had never given much thought to his sexuality. He had been with men as well as with women, and he'd enjoyed both experiences on the same level. Guys were less annoying and easier to get along with, while women were sexier and spicier than men. Than _most_ man, at least. Sanji was in a whole different level.

He could be a little sissy and a pain, but he was also an awesome fighter and incredibly good looking. If he hadn't been so obviously an homophobe, Zoro might have considered him as a potential lover. Of course they would have some stuff to work on, but he had a feeling that they would fit together just fine.

That was never going happen, though. Sanji seemed to hate him already, and he wasn't about to fight a lost battle.

He turned his attention back to the kitchen and saw that Johnny was at the table trying to eat his burned noodles. Zoro sighed at the mess that was left in the sink and prayed to god for a housekeeper. He had been praying like that every since he moved in, six months previously, and there was still no sign of his wish coming true.

That was one of his many reasons on why he was a atheist.

He grabbed his bread and cheese and joined Johnny, catching a glimpse the stack of papers still on the counter while on his way.

He hadn't given a thought about reading the script since he got it from Robin a few hours before. He knew that if he did read it, it'd be the end. All his efforts to refuse joining the show business would go to waste and he would be completely dragged into Luffy's crazy world once again. It'd happened before, and if he wasn't careful, it'd happen again.

He finished his bread and decided to train for a bit. He found his weights lying around and went to the living room for more space. For about fifteen minutes he tried to concentrate on the exercise; the delicious burning on his muscles and the great flux of blood running through his veins. But something on the back of his mind kept possessing him to turn his head and look at the stack of paper lying on the counter. He even tried turning his back to it and doing some push ups in a way that wouldn't allow him to see the papers even if he tried, but his mind wouldn't let him forget the damned script.

He finally gave up, dropping his weights by the couch and making his way to the counter. He eyed the paper intensely and tightened his fists.

"Oh, fuck it," he whispered in defeat, reaching his hands and picking up the script.

He spun around and headed to his room, slamming the door after entering.

He would read that shit and that would be it. Nothing more.

_'Yeah, just reading it won't be a problem...'_

While he tried to convince himself of that, a voice whispered repeatedly on the back of his mind:

_And the winner is: Luffy! And the winner is: Luffy! And the..._

_

* * *

_

Sanji entered the auditorium and looked around. He could see half a dozen people standing and a couple more seated. He recognized some of the man in the room from the previous day; they were blond, like himself, and now he knew they were there to compete against him for a role in the movie. The ones who he didn't recognize were probably trying out for a different role. Zoro's role.

_'Don't think about him,' _Sanji repeated to himself as he tried to block any sort of brain work related to that person.

That was because thinking about the green haired man automatically reminded him of the scene he had witnessed between the guy and the dark haired star known as Luffy. Long after he'd left the studio and gone home, his mind was still working it's way around what his eyes had seen, and he had a great deal of trouble falling asleep because of it.

He kept formulating ideas and explanations as to what the two man were doing, and he simply couldn't understand why it was such a big deal to him. He'd seen two guys make out before, and it'd never really bothered him in any way. He might not like dating other guys, but he respected those who did.

But there was something about that particular picture that just seemed...odd.

Maybe it was the fact that his image of Luffy was so pure and innocent that he'd never considered the boy as an active sexual being. Or maybe it was because their relationship didn't quite give off the feeling of "lovers". They somehow looked more like close friends than anything else.

At any rate, he wasn't sure he would be able to act normal when standing close to them, and he'd rather not worry about it until it was absolutely necessary.

He pushed the green haired man out of his head and resumed looking around the room. He couldn't see any of the judges from the previous day, nor could he spot the sources of his stress, so he decided to take a sit and wait.

The auditorium was completely different from the small room with the small stage from the first part of the audition. The stage now was much larger and the room in itself was quite big, capable of fitting about four hundred people.

There was nobody up on stage even though the lights were on, and the chatting voices of the other candidates sounded much louder than they should for some reason.

Sanji considered again the reasons on why he was there:

1st: He was unemployed and needed a job.

2nd: It sounded interesting. Kinda.

3rd : (and most importantly) He'd promised the lovely Robin that he would show up.

There was no way he could have escaped, and he even read the scrip to make sure he was prepared. It turned out to be quite a good plot about pirates and such. His part was also good.

According to the script, he was a prideful young man from royalty (with dreams and a strong personality) that ended up joining a bunch of pirates to look for a certain mythical ocean. It was a cool story full of fighting scenes and beautiful ladies that made him wish to be part of that universe.

He was also capable of understanding why Robin and Bon so desperately wanted him and Zoro to act together in the movie. Their characters were just like himself and the green haired man in real life; they fought, argued, and called each other names most of the time, but weren't exactly enemies. More like rivals who respected each other's strengths and fought together when it was needed.

There were some differences, of course. Zoro's character seemed much darker and cooler than the real thing, and Sanji's could be quite arrogant a times.

They also seemed to have a much deeper relationship than his and Zoro's, which was understandable. Both characters ended up living on the same boat during a large portion of the story while, in real life, he and the stupid moss head had barely just met.

All in all, he'd decided to show up for the second part of the audition to see what would happen.

Right at that moment the door of the auditorium opened and Zoro walked in, looking as good as he had the previous day, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a loose T-shirt. Their eyes met for a moment before Sanji turned his face in embarrassment. The man walked past him and made his way to the front of the stage. Sanji watched him as he made himself comfortable on the chair and closed his eyes.

_'The bastard is going to take a nap at a time like this!'_

The blond didn't even have time to ponder about the events from the previous day before a voice amplified by a microphone captured his attention. Bon and the man-in-suit from the first part of the audition were on stage trying to get everybody's attention (which wasn't really hard to do considering they ware using mikes). Bon spoke first:

"Hello my darlings! You are here today because you've passed the first half of the audition, and that means you are great! Only two of you will be chosen this time though, so do your best!"

In the following ten minutes the two men explained what the candidates would have to do. It turned out to be exactly what Robin told them: they were supposed to go on stage and read the scrip together with the already selected cast, while doing their best to portrait each character through their voices and expressions.

Sanji was starting to feel out of place. Sure, he'd been in plays before but somehow this wasn't quite the same. Taking part of a movie comprised of a much bigger responsibility than acting in school play. People would pay millions to watch the movie, and if he didn't do a good job the whole thing might turn out to be a failure.

_'What am I doing here? I'm a cook for Christ's sake!'_

His inner worries were interrupted by a sudden change in the atmosphere. It went from quiet nervousness to bustling excitement when three more people entered the stage coming from one of the wings.

Sanji quickly understood the reason for all the whispering and excited chatter; right in front of him, under the spotlight, stood Luffy, Nami and a third person that Sanji didn't know the name but recognized from the day before.

He had long nose, curly hair and was the guy who talked to Zoro while they waited for the results of the first part of the audition. The blond noticed that differently from Nami and Luffy, the boy looked very nervous and awkward just standing there.

Luffy, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease and smiled happily at the competitors. He wore jean-shorts, a red sleeveless button-up shirt and sandals. Something completely different from what he usually wore during interviews and talk shows.

'_Suits him better, though...' _

Sanji had the feeling that the clothes the boy was wearing today were of his own choice, while the other outfits he usually wore on TV were chosen by someone else to create a more unique and popular image for the black-haired star. Looking at the raven head now, and comparing him to his "media image", Sanji thought that he preferred the current Luffy. The guy in front of him looked very comfortable and natural, even more than how he looked on TV while wearing designer clothes and famous brands.

Sanji's eyes traveled then to the side, finding Nami's lovely face. She looked as gorgeous as ever, with a stylish mini skirt and a very sexy strapless top. She too looked different than when she posed on magazines. That was to be expected though, since she was a model and her job was to show unusual clothes to the world. She didn't look as lively as Luffy, but didn't seem bored either. More like a polite interest towards everything.

Bon started talking again, this time to introduce the trio on stage:

"And here is our lovely cast, or part of it at least. There are many others who, unfortunately, are not gonna join us today." He moved a little to stand closer to his guests.

"You probably already know our little star here, Luffy D. Monkey! He's our protagonist." Luffy waved enthusiastically at them during his introduction.

"This cute girl here is also known by most of you as a model, but she'll join us in this movie as an actress. Miss Mikan will be our lead actress." Nami just smiled and bowed her head slightly in greeting.

"Last but not least, we have the newest addition to our cast, Usopp Sogeking. This young man took part in the audition yesterday and even though he didn't get the role he tried out for we invited him to play a different part that we thought would suit him better. It's a pleasure to have you with us, Mr. Sogeking!" Usopp turned bright red and bowed stiffly.

Everybody in the audience clapped at the end of the introductions and the tension grew thicker.

"As I announce your names, you'll come upstage to do the reading. The first scene that we'll work on starts on the page thirty-five of your screenplay and ends on page forty. The characters on scene are _Kyle_, _Luke_, _Meera_ and _Ralph_." Sanji tried to remember everything he'd read the night before.

He knew his character's name was _Kyle_ and that Zoro's was _Luke_. The protagonist's name wasn't _Meera_ nor _Ralph_, so that meant Luffy wasn't going to take part on this scene. _Meera_ was a girl's name, which meant it was Nami's part (since she was the only girl present) and _Ralph_ should be the long-nosed guy's role.

"After all the candidates act out the scene, we'll have a water break. I'll explain more about the second scene later. Good luck to everybody!"

Bon got off the stage and sat on the first row of chairs followed by the suited man. Close to them sat the other judges, the same ones from the previous day. He announced the first two names and waited until the men were on stage.

Neither of the them was Zoro (who was still seated a few rows away from Sanji), which made the blond feel strangely relieved.

Sanji just watched as some crew members picked up chairs and arranged them on stage forming a semi-circle. Nami, Usopp, and the two candidates sat. Luffy left the stage to sit on one of the chairs from the audience which earned him a few excited glances from the people sitting around him.

Bon announced the start and they began to read. Sanji had to admit that Nami was a better actress than he thought she would be. Most models weren't really successful in acting, that's why they were models in the first place. Despite that, Nami was doing alright.

She knew how to put expression into her words and she had great mannerisms, better than many newcomers.

Usopp could also act, but seemed very nervous. Bon was right, he fit Ralph's character perfectly and he was an awesome comedian. The other two guys were also good, but there wasn't much appeal to their performances.

The blond who played Kyle seemed kinda confused about how to interpret some of the lines, making them sound strange. The other man just acted bored, as if that was all Luke could feel. Sanji frowned at a particular emotionless sentence. Luke wasn't like that. Sure, he could he get bored easily and was hard to impress (according to the script), but he was also prideful, mysterious and brave.

Zoro's image popped into his mind. He was a lot like Luke and the cook couldn't deny it. While he read the screenplay the previous night, it was Zoro's face that appeared when Luke spoke, despite all his efforts to think of somebody else.

The scene ended and the next group got up on stage. This time the guy playing Luke was doing a better job than the one playing Kyle, who seemed nervous. Sanji wondered how the guy had passed the first part of the audition with that level of anxiety.

_'But then, I wasn't even acting and I passed too...'_

Sanji ended up being part of the third group together with a weird looking guy. While he took his seat on stage, he tried to remain calm.

_'Just pretend this is all for a school play...'_

He glanced at Nami and she gave him a small smile that made his heart flutter and boosted his confidence. As he started reading, a mental image took form on his mind. He tried to imagine everything that was happening in the story and was happy to see that the others responded accordingly. To his surprise, he ended up having a lot of fun.

Zoro was in the last group together with a blond guy named Enel. Sanji was surprised to see that the green haired man was actually good. He knew how to read the script and how to express himself through his words, and so did Enel. They matched each other well, making the whole thing seem more natural. Sanji presumed that the best groups were his and Zoro's, and that the second scene would be the final battle to define the winners.

Before starting the next scene, they all had a fifteen minutes water break. Bon made it clear that he did not want anyone asking for autographs and pictures during that time, and that the cast was to be left alone (meaning Luffy and Nami specifically, since Usopp wasn't exactly famous yet).

Sanji wasn't particularly thirsty or in need to pee, so he decided to just wait quietly. His eyes ended up following Luffy as the boy made his way to talk to Zoro. They engaged in some sort of discussion in which Luffy seemed to be annoyed about something while Zoro just looked bored.

_'They really don't look like lovers at all...'_

Shit, he was thinking about that stuff again! He needed some answers or at least a neutral opinion about what he'd seen. Sadly enough, he couldn't just go around asking people what they thought of Luffy's sexual orientation. The boy was famous and had a reputation to protect; doing that would just create stupid rumors.

He was about to give up when a glimpse of red hair grasped his attention. Nami entered his field of vision and was now making her way to the water fountain.

_'That's it! She saw them too, which means I won't be blabbing around. That even gives me a reason to talk to her again!'_

He approached the redhead and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Hum... Miss Nami?"

She lifted her head and met his eyes with a smile.

"Ah, hi Sanji. Good job today by the way, you were one of the best."

"Thanks darling, but there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

She eyed him curiously and he pointed with his head in the direction where the two men were talking a few feet away from them.

"What about them?"

"I was just wondering...about yesterday."

"Oh, _that_."

"Yes, _that_. Do you think they are...?"

"Lovers?" She completed his question and he nodded. "No." She answered in a nonchalant way.

"Then, what do you think that was?"

"I don't really know nor do I care, honestly. They act like friends to me. Maybe they just sleep together once in a while. I don't think Luffy's gay, which makes Zoro an exception."

Sanji felt as if an invisible fist punched him right in the face. "W-wait, you think they might be having se-"

"Keep your voice down! Do you want everybody here to listen to our conversation?"

Sanji lowered his voice to a whisper and said: "Sorry." He shut his eyes tightly and massaged his eyeballs while trying to organize his thoughts. "So, you think they are more like s-sex friends than lovers... Is that it?"

"I don't know, but that would be my first guess. There's also a chance of them being ex-lovers with unsolved issues, but I don't think Luffy is the type to leave things unresolved. He's too simple minded to deal with that sort of complicated relationship." She said that with a small laugh.

"I know what you mean."

"But seriously Sanji, this doesn't concern us in any way and it's not such a big deal. There's a lot of that kind of stuff in the show business. It'll be better for you if you just ignore it."

"You mean that what we saw yesterday is something normal around here? How come?" Sanji asked in a exasperated tone.

"Famous people tend to carry a lot of stress. That sort of thing helps us to relax. If you _do_ win this part in the movie, you better be prepared to see and hear all sort of things and to be able to keep quiet about it. It won't be good for you if you get this worked up every time you see two guys making out. And believe me, you'll see that and a lot more."

Sanji tried to steady himself. At least that explained why she hadn't been at all embarrassed while witnessing Luffy and Zoro's "private time". Sanji had never been into celebrity stuff, which explained why he didn't know anything about that side of the entertainment world.

He watched as Luffy finished talking to Zoro and walked away from the man. Zoro ran a hand through his hair and grunted. He turned to see Nami again and noticed that she had been examining him.

"You're right. I was just a little shocked, that's all." He gave her an easy smile and added: "I guess it's really hard for me to imagine a sexually active Luffy. He's too much like a younger brother who you can never imagine getting married."

She laughed at that and her eyes found Luffy on the opposite side of the room. Her expression softened and a beautiful smile played upon her face, making her features glow.

"Yeah, he's like that, isn't he?"

He felt a small stab of jealousy of the way she looked at him. That was probably the first time he had seen her truly smile. For some reason, there was a big difference in the way Nami and Luffy treated each other now from the way they did during their first meeting at the restaurant two days before. Nami wasn't trying to seduce him anymore. They looked more like old friends than newly introduced acquaintances.

"Hum...Okay. Thanks for your help." Sanji said and walked off before the ginger had the chance to pray her eyes off the young raven that was now looking back at her.

* * *

When break time was over, Bon explained the last part of the audition.

"The next scene starts on page 105 and ends on page 112. The characters on stage this time will be Kuzon, Meera, Luke and Kyle."

Sanji felt a wave of excitement. He would finally have a chance to see Luffy's acting in person. The boy _was_, after all, one of his favorite actors.

_Kuzon_ was also a great character that was easy to love. Sanji was sure that the young raven would make him even more lovable with his own charisma.

The blond was so busy containing his enthusiasm that he didn't pay attention to what was being said on the mike, only doing so after his name was called for a second time.

"Mr. Blackleg? Can you come up stage, please?"

"Y-es sir."

Only after taking his seat in the semi-circle did he notice who Luke's improviser was. Seated to his right, in all his green haired glory, was Zoro. Luffy and Nami were also already in place. A little embarrassed for spacing out during such an important time, he decided to focus all of his attention on the script.

The scene they were supposed to read now was more serious than the previous one, and a different level of acting was required. Sanji knew that a good drama was harder to play than a light comedy. Of course comedy could be a bitch too. It all depended on the type of story one had in hand. If a play or a movie was supposed to be of the comedy genre, the actors needed to be really good to be able to pull it off without killing the jokes.

But for an action movie, where comedy wasn't the main genre and the jokes on the script weren't that hard to work with, drama scenes ended up being much harder to do.

This also happened to be the part of the story where Luke and Kyle fought for real for the first time. Not like their normal teasing and bickering, but a real _fight_. That meant that he and Zoro would have to do a really good job to be able to pass the audition.

Sanji glanced at the green haired man for a few seconds. He looked for any signs of distress coming from him, but Zoro seemed completely calm. Maybe not calm, but uninterested. He barely lifted his head from the scrip while the judges were getting ready to start, and completely ignored Luffy's hard stare on his direction.

The raven's eyes were filled with expectation as he watched his friend. His face was serious, which caught Sanji off guard. He'd never seen the serious Luffy before. His whole aura was different. The boy really _did_ become someone else when he acted. He was the real deal.

Sanji wondered again what he was doing here. He wasn't a part of this world, and he didn't want to become involved in it...Or did he? He wasn't so sure anymore. In his heart he would always be a cook. His dream had nothing to do with the show business, he wasn't meant to _be_ there...

...yet, he was curious. He wanted to know what this world was all about. He liked the feeling of excitement that came with the uncertainty of it. He wanted new experiences.

Would that mean losing his dream? He didn't want that to happen. Maybe he should just drop out of the audition after all...

His train of thought was interrupted when a strange voice reached his ears. Strange, though familiar...How was that possible?

He got his answer when he came back to his senses. It was Zoro's voice. The reading had already started, and the green haired man spoke his lines clearly to Nami.

Sanji was surprised. He'd watched Zoro's first reading earlier, but this was different. _Zoro_ was different. He wasn't quite his annoying self anymore. His expressions were real and the way he spoke made him sound like someone else entirely. With every line, the green haired man seemed to be more comfortable with his new self, quickly creating all sorts of small gestures that made every person unique. Things like the way one moves their hands, or scratches their hair.

He could really act. He was _good._

Were all actors like that?

Sanji felt as though he was nothing then.

When it came his time to read a line, he didn't quite know what he was supposed to do. He couldn't become Kyle like Zoro became Luke.

When his voice came out, it sounded fake. He felt like running away. Was he supposed to sound happy when he said that line? Sad? Scared? He had no idea.

He felt sweat drop down his neck as looked for a familiar face in the audience. That had always worked for him during school plays.

He then realized he was not in a school play anymore. There wasn't anybody in the audience he knew. He turned his face away, trying to hide his embarrassment, and his blue eyes met dark ones.

He first thought he was staring at Zoro again, but then he noticed that those eyes weren't as dark as they should have been. He wasn't reminded of a black-hole either, which usually happened when he faced the green haired man. Those brown eyes were like fire, full of energy and power. Maybe even strong enough to win against the darkness of a black-hole.

Sanji focused his attention on what was happening on the real world, and Luffy's brown eyes smiled back at him. They disclosed a message to him:

_'Watch me.'_

And Sanji did. He was paying full attention to that boyish man when he spoke. His voice wasn't as strong as Zoro's, but for some reason it had more impact. It almost felt like it was echoing around the room.

It was then that Sanji really noticed Luffy's presence. Like a powerful magnetic field, attracting everything around him. His words flowed through the sentences, and he made them _his_. The space all around him seemed to change into this weightless new world of fantasy, where pirates were free to do whatever they wanted.

Others joined as well. Nami started to act more freely, as if affected by the appearance of that world. She slowly became Meera.

And Zoro, who Sanji thought was quite amazing already, got even better as well. His sentences became more captivating and his aura grew to compete with Luffy's. They matched each other's timing perfectly, their words, their breaths, _everything_.

_'Just like yesterday...'_ Sanji thought.

This time though, Sanji wanted to join them. He wanted to be part of all that, and so he did. The words that a few seconds before were so hard for him to speak, now escaped easily out of his mouth and heart. He could feel the emotions in the air, and he became angry when Luke spoke badly of his kingdom.

His kingdom? Wasn't it Kyle's? He didn't know who he _was_ anymore, and he didn't _care_.

They yelled and fought, and the captain broke them apart.

Or at least that's what it felt like. He didn't know if it was real or not...

It didn't matter.

He was having fun.

* * *

**Hey there!**

**Not much to say about this chapter, just that it took me a while to gather the patience to finish it ^^' Like I've said before, I do want to finish this story someday, but i just can't promise to post every other week like most writers because I have a bunch of things going on at the moment , sorry **

**I hope you can still enjoy the story, though =3**

**Thank you all for the many reviews and favs until now =3 I have a special thanks to Aevium for all her help with the revisions, she's an awesome beta =D**

**Comments are welcomed (as always) since they make me write MUCH FASTER 3**

**That's it for now =P**

**ps: For the Zolu fans, i'm sorry to say that their relationship in the story won't go on that direction anymore. It's a Zosan fic after all ;D**


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